Higher Ground
by Cissnei69
Summary: "I am good, but not an angel. I do sin, but I am not the devil. I am just a small girl in a big world trying to find someone to love." – Marilyn Monroe. FemHarry.
1. Chapter 1

**Higher Ground**

 **Summary:** _"I am good, but not an angel. I do sin, but I am not the devil. I am just a small girl in a big world trying to find someone to love." – Marilyn Monroe. FemHarry._

 **Just a warning:** _FemHarry_ _, AU (Canon up to End of OoP), No Horcruxes, Blood, Violence, Language, Messed Up Timeline_

 **Just so you know (Timeline):** _Like I said in the warning, the timeline is a little messed up. So keep in mind that the fight in the Department of Mysteries happened way before the OWLs instead of happening on the day Harry had the exam of History of Magic._

 **Just so you know (Name):** _FemHarry's name is Henrika Rhiannon Potter. Henrika is a variation of Harriet, which means "Ruler of the Home" or "Home-Ruler". Rhiannon is one of the Celtic Goddesses of fertility, the moon, night and death. Her name means "Night Queen."_

 **I don't own True Blood or Harry Potter!**

 **Chapter 1**

Wide eyed, fifteen year old Harry Potter watched as the unknown spell hit the only family she had left squarely on the chest.

Harry's breath caught in her throat as his own eyes widened in shock and his face twitched with pain for a second. In a instant, she pulled her wand out and ran toward the man. Her heart squeezed painfully against her chest as she watched his body curve in a graceful arc as he sank backwards; towards the ragged veil hanging from the arch behind him.

A sob escaped her lips as the face of her always courageous godfather twitched with fear. Bellatrix Lestrange let out a triumphant and insane laugh as Sirius fell through the ancient archway known as the Veil of Death and disappeared. The veil fluttered for a moment and Harry felt her heart break when Sirius never reappeared from the other side of the veil.

Harry kept running toward the archway, intent in doing something – anything – to have her Godfather back.

Arms warped around her waist, pulling her away from the veil just as her fingers almost touched it. She screamed, hitting whoever was holding her back as she tried to free herself.

"There's nothing you can do, Harry –" It was Professor Lupin.

"Let me go!" Harry screamed, her voice echoing through the room, "Sirius!"

"– it's too late, Harry."

Harry struggled hard and viciously, scratching and kicking, but Lupin wouldn't let her go.

The man sounded like he was ready to cry, "There's nothing you can do, Harry... nothing... _he's gone_."

He wasn't gone.

Her godfather wasn't gone. He was the only family she had; the only one who loved her for herself and who took care of her without expecting anything but a smile in return.

Sirius _couldn't_ be gone.

"SIRIUS!" Tears streamed down her cheeks as she bellowed, "SIRIUS!"

"He can't come back, Harry," said Lupin, his voice breaking as he struggled to keep holding her Harry, "He can't come back, because he's d –"

"SHUT UP! HE ISN'T DEAD!" She sobbed, "SIRIUS, PLEASE!"

There was movement going on around them, pointless bustling and flashes of spells that she ignored. She didn't even blink as several deflected curses flew past them; her unblinking eyes were clued to the veil.

Harry's shoulders slumped, much like a puppet whose strings were cut. Her desperation evaporated from her body just as fast as it had appeared and she couldn't feel anything.

The moment she stopped struggling, Lupin dragged Harry away from the veil. Still staring and muttering a prayer under her breath for her godfather to come back and stop playing hide-and-seek; praying that he wasn't dead.

Unfortunately, Harry knew that her prayers and wishes were rarely, if ever, answered.

Sirius was _dead_.

Harry sobbed once more, looking down and trying to block the voices coming from the veil; calling for her and trying to tempt her to come closer.

Headmaster Dumbledore had most of the remaining Death Eaters grouped in the middle of the room, seemingly immobilized by invisible ropes; Mad-Eye Moody had crawled across the room to where a unconscious Tonks lay, and was attempting to revive her; behind the veil there were still flashes of spells, grunts and cries and Kingsley had run forward to continue Sirius's duel with Bellatrix.

Her fists clenched. Hate and anger filled her whole being and Harry felt her magic expand and come to life.

"Harry?" Neville called, placing a hand on her arm.

Lupin, who maintained a precautionary grip on her arm regardless of the fact that she had stopped struggling, had taken her as far from the fight as he could and they were now standing in a rather safe corner.

"Harry... I'b really sorry..." Neville's voice sounded strange but that was to be expected with broken nose and bloodied face, "Was dad man – was Sirius Black impordand do you?"

Harry blinked but didn't answer. Her friend looked anguished at this.

"Here," Lupin said quietly, pointing his wand at Neville's broken nose. The amber eyed man muttered a spell and the blonde boy blinked, tapping his now healed nose, "Now – Let's – Let's find the others. Where are they all, Neville?" Lupin refused to look in direction of the veil as he spoke. It sounded as though every word that came out of his mouth was causing him pain.

"They're all back there," With his nose healed, Neville was able to speak normally. He grimaced, "A brain attacked Ron bud I think he's all alright and Hermione's unconscious, bud we could feel a pulse –"

There was a loud bang and a yell. Blinking once more, Harry turned her head mechanically to see Kingsley hit the ground yelling in pain with Bellatrix laughing.

Suddenly, something broke in Harry as she stared at gleeful face of her dearest godfather's murder. Her ears were ringing and the blood in her veins was burning. She could feel her magic begging to be released so it could lash out and tear that bitch apart. It was as if she had turned into a bomb of power.

Taking a deep breath, she made her decision.

As Bellatrix turned tail and ran when Dumbledore whipped around, aiming a spell at her which she deflected it, Harry acted. Using a strength that she didn't know she had, the teen ripped her arm from Lupin's slacked grip and sent a stunner to the man's chest so he won't stop her.

Those who were still standing turned to look at her. Both Order members and Death Eaters looked curious at what she was going to do, although that didn't stop them from fighting.

"What's this?" Bellatrix gave her a crazed grin, her grey eyes wide and filled with madness. Harry snarled. That woman didn't deserve those eyes, they were _Sirius'_. "Are you going to avenge my dear cousin!?" She mocked in a baby voice.

Dumbledore was too busy with a group of Death Eaters who were trying to attack Harry. The old Headmaster looked like he wanted to stop her from doing something stupid but Harry wasn't going to give time to try.

Bellatrix was going to pay.

 _Voldemort_ was going to pay.

It was their fault that Sirius was gone. Everything because of a stupid prophecy. A prophecy that was gone.

Harry's grin was full of teeth as she took the prophecy out of the pocket of her hoodie.

"Poor _Bella_! I wonder what her precious master will think when he learns that she failed to retrieve his prophecy!" Harry said, imitating the older woman's tone, "Maybe he will pick Malfoy as his new favorite?"

"Harry!"

She ignored Dumbledore.

Bellatrix's smile fell and her face twisted ugly. Harry's grin widened as the woman threw a spell at her which the girl dodged with ease. She barely showed it when pain seared across her forehead; her scar was on fire again, and she felt a surge of fury that was quite unconnected with her own emotions.

"Look at that," Harry dodged another spell with a mad laugh to match Bellatrix's own, "Dear old Voldemort _knows_ it's gone! He's not going to be happy with you, is he? Poor, poor Bella."

"What?" Bellatrix faltered for a brief moment. Harry quickly threw a curse at the dark haired woman who barely dodged it, resulting in Bellatrix's almost losing an arm, "What do you mean?!" The Dark Witch cried, and for the first time there was fear in her voice.

"I wonder," Harry created a shield, laughing when Bellattix screamed and cursed her.

Her lightning bolt scar seared and burned but Harry ignored it, being too focused in Bellatrix.

"LIAR!" The wild haired woman shrieked, Harry took pleasure in hearing the terror behind the anger, "YOU'VE GOT IT, POTTER, AND YOU WILL GIVE IT TO ME! _ACCIO_ PROPHECY! _ACCIO_ PROPHECY!'

"Harry!" Dumbledore was running in her direction.

The teen merely laughed again. The pain building in her head hurt so badly that she thought her skull might burst.

Bellatrix was in hysteria and Voldemort was furious with the loss of the prophecy. Things were starting to look up to her.

Harry giggled, her magic dancing against her skin and stopping anyone from approaching them. Dumbledore tried, but her magic merely pushed him back and threw the old man against a wall.

She had no idea of what was going on with her magic. But she rather liked it. She liked the surge of power and how it made her feel. Harry really liked it, especially because she _knew_ that she could use it to destroy that bitch and Voldemort for once and for all.

They would pay. Everyone involved was going to pay.

Her magic vibrated, as if feeling excited.

"No!" Bellatrix screamed, "It isn't true, you're lying! MASTER, I TRIED, I TRIED – DO NOT PUNISH ME –"

"Silence, Bellatrix." Said a high, cold voice.

Harry tilted her head to see Voldemort's tall form and familiar white snakelike and his scarlet, slit-pupilled eyes. He had appeared in the middle of the hall, his wand pointing at Harry who stared back at him with blank eyes.

"So, you smashed my prophecy, Potter?" Voldemort said softly, staring at Harry with those pitiless red eyes. He looked at Bellatrix, "No, Bella, she is not lying... I see the truth looking at me from within her worthless mind... months of preparation, months of effort... and my Death Eaters have let Harry Potter thwart me again..."

"Master, I am sorry, I knew not, I was fighting the Animagus Black!" sobbed Bellatrix, flinging herself down at Voldemort's feet as he walked slowly, "Master, you should know –"

"Be quiet, Bella," Voldemort hissed dangerously. "I shall deal with you in a moment. Do you think I have entered the Ministry of Magic to hear your sniveling apologies?"

"But Master –" Voldemort paid no attention to her. He clearly didn't care that Dumbledore was starting to approach them once more.

Harry smirked when the Dark Lord pointed his wand in her direction. There were screams and people were calling her name. She ignored them all, focusing all her attention on her magic, preparing to use it and let it avenge Sirius.

"I have nothing more to say to you, Potter," Voldemort said quietly. "You have irked me too often, for too long. _AVADA KEDAVRA!_ "

A spell from Dumbledore got her out of the way and Harry could almost hear her magic disappointed. It had wanted to be set free so it could take care of her enemies.

Voldemort growled, "Dumbledore!"

Harry, who had been thrown to the floor, narrowed her eyes. Voldemort raised his wand and another jet of green light streaked at Dumbledore, who turned and was gone in a whirling of his cloak. The old Headmaster reappeared behind Voldemort and waved his wand. A duel started and Hay couldn't help but admire the two wizards; there was no doubt that they were powerful.

Her eyes landed on Bellatrix and she snarled, standing up.

"Harry stay down!" Dumbledore bellowed. He sounded frightened.

Harry had just cursed Bellatrix, blasting the woman's chest in the same spot Sirius had been shot, and barely had time t understand what was going on.

Her scar burst open and then there was pain beyond anything that she had felt before; even worse than _Crucio_. She lost control of her body, as if her own soul had pushed aside and her magic vibrated with rage and when the thing possessing her spoke – When _Voldemort_ spoke, she knew that she had to let her magic free soon if she wanted to end the snake freak.

"Kill me now, Dumbledore ..." Voldemort spoke, using her body, "If death is nothing, Dumbledore, kill the girl... Let her pain end, maybe then she will see her pathetic godfather again."

She snapped.

Harry's heart speed up and she screamed; letting go of her magic.

* * *

"Miss Potter is time for your potion."

Emerald green eyes snapped open before they closed once more. Without a word, the girl turned her back to the woman standing next to her bed.

"I won't it say again."

"Go away," Was the girl's answer.

There was a sigh before the woman pulled her wand out of the sleeve of her dress and flicked it. Harry yelped and jumped, rubbing her arm with pursued lips as she glared at Madam Pomfrey. The Healer glared back, shoving a vial on the teenager's face.

"Drink before I _force_ you to."

Knowing that it was useless to fight against the blue eyed woman, Harry took the vial with a huff. Wrinkling her nose, she drank the potion in one go before turning toward Madam Pomfrey and giving her a challenging look. The old matron raised an eyebrow in response.

"Happy?"

"I'm _so_ happy that you drank your medicine like a good little girl." Madam Pomfrey said dryly, "I would hate to hex you again."

Harry snorted before crossing her arms and lying back on her bed.

"You were having another nightmare." Madam Pomfrey said casually, moving to sit on her desk on the corner of the Hospital Wing. Harry's bed (And after years of landing there, it was truly her bed) had been moved closer to it since it would be easier for the matron to take care of her if needed, "Do you want to talk about it?"

The raven haired girl closed her eyes for a moment, "It's the same one as always. There's nothing to say."

It had been a week since the fight in the Department of Mysteries and things had changed since then.

For one, both Voldemort and Bellatrix were dead.

For another, all marked Death Eaters were now slowly, losing their magic little by little.

Apparently, Harry's magic had lashed out in an attempt to protect her from Voldemort and it somehow purified both his and Bellatrix's magic, killing them in the process. So, because of the connection the Dark Mark had to Voldemort (Bonding all of his followers' magic to his own soul and keeping him alive as well making him stronger), almost all marked Death Eaters now had their own room in St. Mungus.

That, of course, was the official story told to the public by Headmaster Dumbledore. The truth was that no one knew what happened, not even the old wizard.

"How you're feeling today?" Madam Pomfrey asked, changing the subject.

"I just woke up," Harry muttered, "Asked me again later."

"If you feel anything strange, do warn me." The matron said.

The raven haired girl had been feeling sick ever since that night in the Department of the Mysteries. Madam Pomfrey had yet to find out what was wrong or why she sometimes felt like she had far too much energy in her body but Dumbledore thought that it was a side effect of her defeat over Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

Harry didn't care all that much about. She was actually relieved. Being sick meant that she needed to stay in the Hospital Wing and could avoid everyone at Hogwarts who would likely want a piece of the so called Girl-Who-Won (As the public decided to call her now).

The young witch nodded slowly, "Uh huh, I will."

Harry didn't notice that she fell asleep again until something heavy landed on her lap. She opened her eyes for the second time that day to see Hermione sitting on the end of her bed along Ginny, who was listening to the older girl as she helped the girl with her homework. Neville, Ron and Luna were sitting in comfortable chairs, which had clearly been transfigured, next to her bed. Much to Harry amusement, Luna was clutching the latest edition of The Quibbler, reading the magazine upside-down. This is special of the small blonde always impressed Harry.

Looking down at her lap, she saw a stack of paper.

Harry grimaced.

Hermione looked away from the book she had been holding and narrowed her chocolate brown eyes, "Just because you're sick doesn't mean that you can slack off in your studies."

The green eyed girl grumbled and grabbed the first sheet of parchment. It was that week Potions' assignment.

"Snape is still in the castle?" She asked. That was a little surprising since he was one of the former Death Eaters who had already lost their magic.

"He is," Ron said darkly. "Is like we will never get rid of the greasy git."

Hermione gasped and glared at him, "Ronald!"

"What?! The guy is now a Squib but Dumbledore –"

"Professor Dumbledore." Hermione corrected bossily.

He ignored her.

"– convinced the Board to keep him in the school." Ron grumbled as he helped himself to a handful of Chocolate Frogs from the immense pile on Harry's bedside cabinet. He threw a few to Harry, Ginny, Luna and Neville and ripped off the wrapper of his own with his teeth. Hermione avoided chocolate since her parents were dentists so he didn't even bother with giving her one.

"I think," Hermione said, "That it is wonderful how they let him stay. It shows that that Wizarding World is changing for the better."

Ron snorted, "Yeah, right."

"What do you mean with that?" She glared.

He raised both of his hands and sighed, "Look, the only reason Snape stayed was because Dumbledore still has a great amount of influence over our world, especially now that the Daily Prophet is on his and Harry's side," He shrugged, "So, really. We have to wait and see before being stuck with the preconception that the Wizarding World is finally looking past centuries of prejudice."

The five other occupants of the room stared. They weren't aware that he knew words like _preconception_ or that he knew how to speak like that about something that wasn't food or Quidditch.

"Wow," Neville blinked.

"Ron…" Hermione said slowly, wide eyed, "I'm impressed." She smiled, "You're finally showing that intelligence I always knew you had."

Ron blushed and seemed to struggle with himself for a moment. In the end, he decided to stay quiet and turned his attention back to his chocolate. Ginny caught Harry's eye and they chuckled. Hermione was completely oblivious of how her words affected the poor blue eyed boy.

"So, anyway," Harry said as she placed all of her homework aside. She would work on it later, "Has something happened today?

"Well, Flitwick finally decided to get rid of Fred and George's swamp," Ginny said, "He did it in about three seconds. But he did leave a tiny patch under the window and he's roped it off –"

Harry blinked, "Why?"

"He said it was a really good bit of magic," said Ginny, shrugging.

Harry snorted. She could see that. Flitwick was one of the most laid back teachers they had.

"I think he left it as a monument to Fred and George," Ron said through a mouthful of chocolate.

"Filch was more miserable than normal," Neville said, shivering a little.

A miserable Filch was already difficult to deal with normally. The man was horrible and wasn't someone adults should trust with children. He was always grumpy and in a never ending state of bad mood so Harry couldn't see how or why could get worse.

Luna tilted her head a little, "He is sad."

"He thinks that Umbridge was the best thing that ever happened to Hogwarts so now that Dumbledore is back, Filch is – well – he is angrier and taking it out on all of us." Ginny wrinkled her nose.

All six of them turned around to look at Dolores Umbridge. The toad like woman was lying in a bed on the other side of the room, gazing up at the ceiling with vacant eyes.

From what Harry heard, after he learned about what she and Hermione had done to Umbridge, Dumbledore had walked alone into the Forest to rescue the horrible woman from the centaurs. How he had done it, nobody knew and neither he nor Umbridge were talking. Actually, since she had returned to the castle she had not, as far as any of them knew, uttered a single word.

The first time Harry woke up in the Hospital Wing and found the woman there, she had been a little surprised but pleased. Surprised that the centaurs hadn't killed Umbridge for the offense she had committed and pleased in knowing that the woman was clearly traumatized. Maybe that would teach her to not treat sentients magical creatures as if they were nothing but savages.

"How long do you thing she will stay here?" Neville whispered.

"Madam Pomfrey told me that St. Mungus is full with the Death Eaters so until there is a room for her there." Harry replied, "That or until they finally decide the date of her trial for using Blood Quills on minors."

Ginny gave her a look, "In other words; you don't know for certain."

Harry shrugged.

"It isn't like it matters." The green eyed witch said, "She doesn't do much aside from staring at the ceiling, eating and sleeping." She made a pause, "Well, no, that isn't right. She does react when she hears something like," At this, Harry made soft clip-clopping noises with her tongue. Immediately, Umbridge yelped and sat bolt upright, looking around wildly as if she was looking for any centaur.

"Is there anything wrong, Madam Umbridge?" Madam Pomfrey asked, poking her head around her office door.

Trembling, Umbridge sank into her pillows, "No – No... no... there is nothing. Nothing. I must have been dreaming... Yes… It was all my imagination."

The six friends laughed.

"That's so mean, Harry." Hermione muttered, trying to hide her grin behind her book.

She raised a brow at the brown eyed girl, "I wasn't the one who came up with the idea to take the woman to the centaurs."

The bushy haired witch looked away, her grin widening.

"Speaking of centaurs," Neville perked up, "Firenze wants to talk to you Harry."

At the mention of the Divination teacher, Harry blinked.

"Why?"

He shrugged, "Don't know. But I think it has something to do with the research you asked us to do. He saw us in the library this morning and said _'Do ask Miss Potter to come and see me when she leaves the healing chambers. I may have the answers she seeks'_."

Sitting up a little straighter, Harry looked at him with wide eyes.

She had asked her friends to try and find out how her magic had done what it had done. Dumbledore wasn't any help and with Sirius dead, she didn't trust the adults in her life to tell her anything if they found out what truly happened. Unfortunately, none of her friends, not even the bookworm Hermione, had found anything useful.

"He refused to say what he knew when we asked." Hermione seemed a little irritated. She hated not knowing things, "He will only speak to you."

"I do wonder how he even knew what we were looking for." Ginny frowned, "For all he knew, we could have been doing our homework."

"He _is_ our Divination teacher." Luna said, turning a page of her magazine, "Is natural for him to _know_."

Hermione and Ginny grumbled, accepting her point. Ever since they learned about the existence of the Prophecies in the Department of Mysteries, all of them learned that there was more to Divination than what they had believed and that they shouldn't dismiss something just because they don't have proof that it works or exist.

"Think he is in the tower?" Harry asked as she jumped from the bed, looking around for her shoes.

Hermione opened her mouth to stop her when Madam Pomfrey stepped out of her office.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Harry's eyes widened before she started running, not even caring that she was barefoot. If she knew Madam Pomfrey like she thought she did then the woman would more likely tie her to the bed if she caught her. The Healer hated it when her patients escaped before she gave them her Ok.

"Potter! Come back here, young lady!"

"I have something to do! I will be back later!" She yelled over her shoulder, grinning when she saw that Ron and Neville were holding the furious matron back. Ron was grinning like a loon, finding it all funny, as was Ginny but Hermione stood behind Madam Pomfrey, her arms crossed and lips pressed in a thin line.

Harry winced and ran faster.

She was going to get earful from the older girl later.

"Potter!"

 _That_ if Madam Pomfrey didn't kill her first.

* * *

The castle seemed strangely quiet and calm for a Sunday. The weather was lovely and Harry could see that everyone was outside, enjoying the sun or just relaxing a little before their exams started.

Harry walked through the corridors of the castle slowly, doing her best to avoid anyone and ignoring the portraits that tried to make her stop so they could talk to her. Peering out of windows as she went on her way, Harry smiled a little wishful when she saw people messing around in the air over the Quidditch pitch, just flying around, and a couple of students swimming in the lake, accompanied by the giant squid. Madam Pomfrey had banned her from such activities until they learned what was wrong with her.

She had just reached the seventh floor, walking in direction of the narrow, spiralling set of stairs that led to the Divination classroom when Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle stepped in front of her. Harry stopped dead, pursuing her lips and narrowing her as did Malfoy.

None of them said anything and the green eyed witch could almost feel the tension in the air.

Discretely, Malfoy scanned the corridor before he hissed in a low voice, "You're dead, Potter."

Harry checked herself over before smiling charmingly.

"Strange," She said, "I don't think I'm dead. If I was, I won't be able to breath or walk around." She rubbed her chin in thought before gasping, "Maybe I'm a vampire!"

Goyle grunted with his typical troll speak, agreeing with her statement or maybe finding it funny (Or so she thought. It wasn't like Harry knew how to speak troll). Grabble hit him in the back of his head when Malfoy sneered at them.

The blonde boy looked Harry, his pointed face twisting with rage.

Her smile widened at this. It was a hobby of hers to make him angry. Serves him right for always trying to pick up fights with her.

"You're going to pay for what you did," His voice was nothing more than a whisper. "I'm going to make you pay for what you've done to my father"

"You mean your _Squib_ father," She tilted her head, "I don't see why you would blame me for the loss of his magic. Blame his old mate Voldemort instead."

He snarled while the other two winced at the name of the now deceased Dark Lord.

"You did something Potter." Malfoy stepped closer to her, Crabbe and Goyle flanking him. Looking down, Harry saw that he didn't even have his wand with him, "He said you did. I don't what it was, but I will make you pay for it."

"You already said that," Harry pointed out.

He grabbed her wrist and Harry's smile fell. The girl glared. His hold was strong and Harry knew that it was going to leave a bruise.

Malfoy pulled her forward until his face was inches away from hers, "I would keep my eyes open if I was you Potter. My father wasn't the only one who lost his magic because of you." He smiled ugly, "And there are many people out there who would love to free this world from the stain that took our Lord away from us."

"Let go, Malfoy." She growled.

His grip tightened and, in that moment, her magic awakened much like it had done in the Department of Mysteries after Sirius fell through the Veil. It vibrated in her skin, as if angry that she was being threatened.

She gasped when a surge of power filled her; it was little weaker than the one she had been feeling for a week now but it still made her a little dizzy. She had never been drunk before, but every time that happened, Harry thought that this was how being drunk felt.

Malfoy cursed and let her go. He stepped back and would have fallen to the cold stone floor if his so called friends hadn't caught him.

 _What_ , Harry blinked, _What happened?_

"What did you do?!" Malfoy hissed. He looked paler than normal.

Harry leaned against the wall and stared her wrist. Her eyes widened when she saw the bruise the boy had left there heal.

 _This isn't normal_ , she thought with alarm.

Maybe she shouldn't have left the Hospital Wing.

"What's going on here?"

They turned around at the masculine voice. Harry's shoulders slumped a little when she saw Firenze. The centaur didn't look too happy and the look in his eyes made her cower a little. It was difficult to not to. He scared her more than Snape ever would.

"Nothing, Professor." She said, "I was just coming to talk to you."

Malfoy merely sneered, shaking his arms out of Crabbe' and Goyle's grip and started to move. His shoulders bumped on hers.

"Watch yourself, Potter." The Slytherin hissed as he walked away, being followed by the two humanoid trolls that insisted in being his bodyguards for some reason.

Firenze watched them go before looking at her, "Come, we have much to talk."

The green eyed girl stared before she followed after him upstairs. As much as he scared her, Harry wanted answers and she was going to get them.

 **Hope you liked it and please, don't forget to:**

 **Review, Favorite or Follow and if you have questions/suggestions, just send me a PM.**

 **-Cissnei**


	2. Chapter 2

**Higher Ground**

 **Summary:** _"I am good, but not an angel. I do sin, but I am not the devil. I am just a small girl in a big world trying to find someone to love." – Marilyn Monroe. FemHarry._

 **Just a warning:** _FemHarry_ _, AU (Canon up to End of OoP), No Horcruxes, Blood, Violence, Language, Messed Up Timeline, Minor Suggestive Adult Themes (What's a Crossover with True Blood without that?)_

 **Just so you know (Name):** _FemHarry's name is Henrika Rhiannon Potter. Henrika is a variation of Harriet, which means "Ruler of the Home" or "Home-Ruler". Rhiannon is one of the Celtic Goddesses of fertility, the moon, night and death. Her name means "Night Queen."_

 **I don't own True Blood or Harry Potter!**

 **Chapter 2**

Harry followed Firenze to his office in silence. She kept her head high and tried to not show how uncomfortable she was feeling.

Unfortunately, any bravado that she may have had left her body the moment the door of the centaur's office closed behind her and she cowered a little; pressing her back against the closest window. If needed, she could always jump. Harry knew a spell which would stop her from turning into mashed potatoes against the ground.

"Tea, Miss Potter?" Firenze offered, preparing said tea in the corner of the room with his back to her.

Harry's fingers tapped her thigh nervously, "Yes, please."

As he prepared the tea, she scanned the room, finding the need to do something.

Much like his classroom back in the ground-floor corridor, the office was filled with flowers of all kind and trees, both growing out of the grass covered floor. There was a desk in the corner along two full bookshelves and Harry could see a door. If it was anything like the door on Professor McGonagall's office, then it lead to Firenze's room.

"Here it is," Firenze started moving toward her with a cup of tea in his hand, "Why don't you take a seat?"

Harry accepted the tea, mumbling her thanks under her breath, before she hesitantly took a seat in one of the two chairs facing the centaur's desk. The green eyed witch ignored the way he smiled with amusement when she dragged her chair little more closely to the window in an attempt of staying as far she could from him. Instead, Harry looked through the window, her own lips twitching up when she saw her friends sitting by the lake.

"What can I do for you, Miss Potter?" The silvery-blonde centaur asked, focusing his attention on a few papers that he had to grade.

Harry shot him an odd look, "I don't know? You were the one who told Neville that I should come to see you." He looked up and raised an eyebrow. "Sir." She added nervously.

"I asked," He said slowly, "What can I do for you, Miss Potter?"

It was then that something clicked and she understood. Recalling something that Hagrid had explained that year about centaurs, she sat straighter. Centaurs never lied but nor did they give you any information of you didn't ask the right question.

"I seek answers and you have them." With a smile, he nodded and made a motion for her to continue, "Do you know what's happening to my magic?"

"I do."

"And?" She gritted her teeth.

He didn't say anything and merely stared as if she stupid. Harry drank her tea so she won't end snapping at the centaur. Firenze wasn't like the others of his Clan when it came to humans but there was no doubt in her mind that he won't be too happy if she snapped at him.

 _Ok_ , Harry thought, _be specific and ask the right question or he won't say anything._

"Can you tell me what's wrong with my magic?"

"I could." He nodded. "But you're wrong to think that there's something _wrong_ with what's going on with you."

She pursued her lips, feeling annoyed. Her magic vibrated against her skin, mirroring her annoyance with a little more intensity.

"Will you please explain why my magic is acting so strangely?" Harry asked.

It sounded more like a demand than a question but neither Harry nor Firenze said anything about it.

The blue eyed centaur chuckled, "Because of all stress that you have suffering lately you awakened your magic inheritance early."

Her eyes' widened and cursed under her breath.

She couldn't believe that neither she nor her friends thought about this possibility.

Even though people didn't speak about it all that much, Magical Inheritances were pretty common. There were several types of inheritances. There were inheritances that awakened the a little after the child was born (Like Tonks' Metamorphmagic) and then there were two types of inheritances which only awakened on a child sixteenth birthday.

Harry licked her lips as she thought about it. She knew that the first case wasn't the cause of her problems with her magic or why she ended killing Voldemort and Bellatrix; Headmaster Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey were obliged under an Oath to tell any orphan or Muggleborn student if they had been born with a type of magical ability.

That left the other two types of inheritances.

"What type of inheritance?" She hesitated to ask, "Diluted or Balanced?"

"Balanced." Firenze replied.

The raven haired girl winced, placing her long forgotten cup of tea over the table and crossing her arms tightly over her chest. She raised her head, staring at the ceiling.

A few generations back, before people started to treat non-humans with disdain, several pureblood families would intermarry with sentient magical creatures to ensure that the magic of their children would stay pure and strong. The thing was that blood started to get dormant along the years because of too much inbreeding and their descendants only inherited a few of their characteristics (The children from the Malfoy Family, for example, always got more attractive or their affinity to fire magic would get stronger after their sixteenth birthday because of the Veela who helped found the family back in the seventh century). _That_ was known Diluted Inheritance and was the most common one to get when you had a creature ancestor.

Balanced was a little different. Balanced Inheritance only happened to one percent of the children with a magical creature ancestor. Instead of giving a child an ability or characteristic, it _changed_ them instead. And when Harry said _changed_ , she meant it. For example; if you had a Leprechaun ancestor and both your magic and soul were compatible to Leprechaun's magic then you would ended up waking up half-Leprechaun the night after your sixteenth birthday.

Harry having a Balanced Inheritance meant that she was changing to something else. It meant that she was no longer human, at least not completely.

She placed a hand over her eyes.

This couldn't be happening to her.

"I'm not sixteen yet." Harry said softly after a moment of silence.

"I already told you didn't I?" Firenze said, "It was the stress that caused you to get your inheritance early." He made a pause, as if contemplating something before he spoke again, "It is also because of that that your magic is so –"

"Instable?" She grumbled.

Said magic vibrated against her skin; if it had a face, it would be pouting.

"I was going to say _alive_ ," The centaur gave her a look. His expression didn't change much but she knew that he was annoyed.

Harry leaned back in her chair, refusing to meet his eyes.

"And what's my inheritance?"

"Miss Potter, you need to understand that if you want to complete the transition without any problem and learn how to control your creature side – learn how to control your magic – then you need to keep in mind that _what_ you're have nothing to do with _who_ you're." Firenze surveyed with something akin to compassion and sympathy.

But she didn't need that from him. She didn't want that from him.

What she wanted and needed was the simple answer to what she was.

Harry shook her head, a strangled laugh coming out of her lips, "You're just making me feel worse you know?" She looked into his eyes.

For a long time, neither of them spoke. Somewhere far beyond the office walls, Harry could hear the sound of voices, the sounds of students laughing and talking among themselves as they enjoyed the knowledge that the war was over before it even started. Part of her resented them all. They could be normal teenagers but her? There was no such as normal when it came to Harry because Fate, apparently, thought she was its wimping toy.

"What's my inheritance?" She asked a little harshly, ignoring every single instinct in her being that screamed to her to tread carefully and not anger the centaur.

Firenze stared at her.

"Did know, Miss Potter," He said quietly, "That your Grandfather was a Dark Fae?"

Harry's heart dropped.

She didn't wait to listen to what he had to say next. The green teen leaped up from her seat and ran out of the room, making her way outside.

This couldn't be happening to her.

 _Why it is always me?_ She wanted to cry.

Outside, the sun seemed to mock her with how bright it was as she walked to the lake. The laugher and conversation of the students who were lying around on the grass sunbathing, talking or eating sweets made her ears ring and it took some effort to ignore those who waved to her or tried to call her attention. She really wasn't in the mood of dealing with any of them at the moment and all she wanted at the moment was to talk to her friends because she had never felt so lost before.

"Harry!" Neville saw her first. The boy beamed as she approached the spot they always used when visiting the lake, "How did it go?"

Hermione, who had been feeding bread to the Giant Squid along Luna, looked at her, "Henrika Potter!" Harry winced, "Why're you still barefoot? Have you spoken to Madam Pomfrey yet?! Did you –"

Ginny placed a hand over her mouth, cutting the bossy witch out.

"Hermione," The red haired girl hissed, "Can't you see that something happened?"

That made Hermione look at Harry – _truly_ look at her. She frowned and gave a hesitant step forward before she stopped, unsure of what to do. Harry imagined how she must have looked at the moment. She doubted that she was the picture of happiness.

"Hey, Harry," Ron said softly, walking to her and placing a hand over her shoulder, "Did you learn what's wrong with your magic?" Harry pursed her lips making him smile nervously, "Look, whatever it's, we will deal with it. It can't be worse than a Cerberus or V-V-Voldemort."

She snorted, rubbing her eyes.

"Yeah…" Harry agreed, "Definitely not worse than Voldemort."

At least she hoped it wasn't.

"So," Neville shifted his weight from one foot to another, "What did Professor Firenze say?"

"I…" Harry licked her lips, "I have a magical inheritance; a balanced one. Apparently, all the stress made it come early."

Hermione looked thoughtful, "That would explain what happened to Voldemort and all the Death Eaters. The magic you got from your inheritance must have acted up to protect you."

"How would magic even do that?" Ron shot her an odd look, as if she was insane for even suggesting such thing.

Ginny face palmed, "Ron," She growled at her brother, "Don't you pay attention to anything that we learn in class? When someone awakens a balanced inheritance, their magic turns sentient until they can learn to control it."

"What type of inheritance can do what Harry did to You-Know-Who?" Neville asked nervously.

"Dark Faes." Harry mumbled, sitting down with her back resting against a tree trunk, wrapping her arms around her knees.

To tell the truth, Harry had no idea of what a Dark Fae even was. But she grew up learning that Dark meant evil and murder and learning that she was now some type of Dark creature made her cringe and want to destroy something. She was disgusted with herself and afraid of what that meant to her. Would her personality change because of that? Would she turn into a female version of Voldemort?

" _Dark_ Fae?" Ron squeak, paling a little. Ginny looked at her before elbowing him, making the boy wince before he saw what his reaction did to Harry, "I-I mean, what is a Dark Fae?"

Harry shrugged, looking at the lake.

"I don't know, but it doesn't sound like something good." She said bitterly.

Someone sat next to her. Closing her eyes when the familiar warmth of Luna's arms wrapped around her, she forced herself to relax and enjoy the comfort.

"Just because there's Dark in the name, it doesn't mean evil." The younger girl said, resting her head against Harry's shoulder.

"I didn't say that."

"But you thought about it. Don't judge something before you try to understand it, Harry. You're not this of person."

Those words hurt more than Harry thought it would be possible. The problem was that Luna was right. She shouldn't judge something even before trying to understand and learn more about it. But after Sirius's death, not only her magic had been acting strangely and she had been getting sick but her emotions had been a little volatile; changing in a blink of eyes and clouding her thoughts.

"I know," The raven haired girl whispered, "Sorry, I just –"

Someone patted her head. Harry opened her eyes to see Neville smiling at her.

"Don't worry about it. We know that you have been having problems lately and not only with your magic." He sat down, being followed by the other three, "We can learn about Dark Faes together and find a way to control your magic."

"And what being a Dark Fae has to do with Voldemort's death and the loss of magic all Death Eaters are going through." Ginny said with a nod.

"We can go to the library today and try to find a book them." Hermione suggested with a smile.

Ron scratched the back of his head, "Well, I don't know what a Dark Fae is but it can't be bad if you're one."

Ginny deadpanned, "Very eloquent, Ron."

The tall red haired boy beamed, "Thanks sis!" He made a pause, "What's eloquent? It – It isn't an insult right?"

Harry snorted before she started laughing when Hermione started to explain what _eloquence_ meant, going so far as to quote the dictionary she had memorized from cover to cover. She shook her head with a smile. Harry had no idea of what she would have done with her life if it wasn't her friends.

* * *

As the days passed, more and more Death Eaters lost their magic and Harry noted with relief that her emotions stopped jumping from one extreme to another and she stopped getting the sudden bust of power that kept sending her to the Hospital Wing (Although that didn't stop Madam Pomfrey from cornering her in a deserted corridor to see if she wasn't in need of a Potion). Much to her frustration, even if she was much better and didn't have any other incident like the one that happened with Malfoy, neither she nor her friends (Aside from Luna and Ginny) had found time to search for a book in the library spoke of Dark Fae.

June had arrived and all Fifth Years were too busy with their OWLs. The teachers stopped giving them homework and all of their lessons were devoted to revising those topics the teachers thought would to come up in the exams. Everyone was studying for their exams and Harry couldn't help but notice that there wasn't a single Fifth Year who wasn't going a little insane with all the work they were doing.

It was while she was studying in the library, helping Ron with Transfiguration, and having to deal with one of those newly insane students that Malfoy approached her and caused her magic to act up again.

Ernie Macmillan, who had developed the irritating habit of interrogating people about their revision practices, stopped by their table that morning. The pompous Hufflepuff looked horrible; his usually neat hair was a total mess and he had dark circles under his eyes, making him look remarkably like a mad scientist.

"How many hours do you think you're doing a day?" The boy demanded of Harry and Ron as he sat across the green eyed witch.

Harry took one look at the manic gleam in his eyes and decided to ignore him, focusing all her attention on the book she had been reading.

"I dunno," Ron replied, a little weirded out, "A few."

"More or less than eight? Maybe ten? Eleven?" Wide eyed, boy leaned forward making Harry and Ron lean back.

"Less, I suppose," said Ron, sharing an alarmed look with Harry.

Like her, Ron wasn't good with learning from books nor did he like to read all that much (Although Harry did like reading when the subject truly interested her and when she didn't have any other alternative to learn a new spell) but both of them were pretty good when it came to the practical side of things. So it was a little strange for them to think that anyone would spend so much time studying. Hermione didn't count. That girl would only stop studying after she died and there was no guarantee that she won't find a way to take a whole library to the afterlife with her.

"I'm doing nine," Ernie said, puffing out his chest like a proud peacock. "Nine or eleven. I'm getting an hour in before breakfast every day. Nine is my average." Harry's jaw dropped and she stared at the boy with disbelief. Did he ever stop talking? "I can do eleven on a good weekend day. I did nine and a half on Monday. Not so good on Tuesday – only eight and a quarter. Then on Wednesday –"

Harry blinked several times, trying to process what was being said. At some point, she tried to block what he was saying but it was impossible.

"– but then the day after – I think it was a Friday. I'm not really sure. Anyway, it was a Friday and I was studying about that knew Charms theory we were –"

"Potter." She sighed at the sneering voice.

Beside her, Ron tensed and even Ernie stopped talking. The Hufflepuff moved a little to the side to put a little of distance between him and Malfoy but when he saw that Grabbe and Goyle were also there, he decided to move to another table. Malfoy looked down at Harry with a nasty smile.

She clenched her fists when her magic vibrated, as if growling at the boy. Harry took a deep breath and smiled. Before she could say anything though, Ron interrupted her.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Ron narrowed his eyes, baring his teeth.

Malfoy's smile grew, "What, Weasel? Can't I greet my fellow student?"

"Speak and go away, Malfoy." Harry said kindly. Her eyes, showed how annoyed she was with his presence. "We have better things to do than having to listen to you."

Ron grumbled about anything being more important than Malfoy but she ignored it. Even if the blue eyed teen was absolutely right.

"Have you been enjoying your last days in Hogwarts, Potter?" He asked, as if she hadn't said anything.

Harry opened her mouth to speak when she interrupted. _Again_.

"What're you doing here, Malfoy?" Ginny asked. She had an old looking tome with her, hugging it to her chest. Luna was oddly absent from her side but the Ravenclaw witch must be hunting one of her creatures. She did that sometimes.

Malfoy eyed her before dismissing the Fourth Year Gryffindor as if she wasn't of any importance.

"I hope you're ready, Potter." He said to Harry, "Because your days are numbered."

She wanted to roll her eyes, either that or bang her head repetitively to the desk. But Malfoy wasn't worth the effort and she was trying to understand where exactly he was trying to go with this.

"Uh huh," She nodded, "Are you finished? Ron and I were studying."

Ginny snorted as Malfoy pursued his lips.

"Why would Harry even leave Hogwarts?" Ginny said, "She is the best witch of the school."

Harry blushed a little at this while Malfoy looked like

Suddenly, he smirked.

"Well – I heard that there is a problem with your magic." Harry narrowed her eyes as he spoke a little too loudly. It was rather surprising when Madam Price didn't show up from nowhere to kick him out of the library. Honestly. Harry wished she had showed up. "I don't think you will stay here for much longer if it continues like that."

"Really now?" Harry said dryly.

She really didn't understand what Malfoy was doing there.

Harry wasn't a Seeker for nothing. Almost nothing escaped her eyes and she had noticed that although he hadn't bothered her for a while, several Slytherins had been following her from the shadows; observing everything that she did when she was alone. The snakes were waiting for something and what he was doing right now just confused her.

He had either gotten tired of waiting for any of his housemates to attack her and get revenge for whatever she had supposedly done to all of their Death Eater relatives or this confrontation was actually part of their diabolical plan.

Whatever plan that was…

"How the bloody hell does he even knows that?" Ron muttered gloomily.

Ginny, who had walked closer to them and was standing close enough to her brother to hear what he had to say, huffed, "Since when secrets remain secret in Hogwarts for more than two days?"

Harry snorted.

"Point." Ron frowned.

"I'm not surprised that your magic is defective though," Malfoy continued speaking as if they hadn't said a word, "Having been born from a Mudblood whore mother and coward blood-traitor father, there was no doubt that you would –"

That son of a bitch – Hadn't he learned in the last five years to not insult her parents?!

Harry snarled, seeing red. Her magic vibrated against her skin, screaming for justice. Not even caring about what could happen to the little bastard, Harry jumped from her seat and grabbed his wrist much like how he had done to her almost two weeks ago. For some reason, no sound came out of his mouth when their skin touched even though he looked pained.

He got paler and Harry felt that now familiar surge of power and her magic purred with pure pleasure. She was a little dizzy for a brief moment but her body had already gotten used to the sudden surge of power because she recovered fairly quickly.

Her grip on his wrist tightened. She was stronger than normal because she could feel his bone breaking. Not that she cared. He deserved more than a broken wrist for what he said.

"I would think before speaking if I were you, Malfoy," Harry hissed, looking into his terrified eyes as she leaned forward. By the corner of her eyes, she could see Ginny and Ron pointing their wands to Grabbe and Goyle, stopping them from trying to help their leader.

Malfoy tried to speak but, instead, he choked.

Harry smiled widely, "You don't want to make the wrong person angry, do you?" She asked sweetly, their faces almost touching.

Malfoy's eyes dilated when she pated his cheek. Harry inhaled, her nostrils flaring as she smelled something strange. It wasn't a bad scent; it was actually rather good but not enough to make her sigh with pure pleasure or anything. She shrugged it off before letting Malfoy's wrist go when he finally nodded.

Panting, he fell back to the floor and Grabbed and Goyle hurried to help him. At first, he didn't react to them before shaking his head and stared at her. Malfoy seemed a little disoriented as if he had just woke up but then he looked down. The boy blushed with embarrassment before he closed his robes and started running, tripping a few times and having to be helped by his two followers.

There was a moment of stunned silence as the trio watched them go.

"Please tell me you didn't see what I did." Ginny whispered to her brother almost desperately, "Please tell it was some type of sick hallucination."

"Bloody hell!" Ron gaped after the trio disappeared behind a bookshelf. He looked disgusted, "Did – Did Malfoy have a…" The boy hesitated, "Did he have a _boner_?"

Harry's eyes widened and she mirrored his expression.

"Please tell me I didn't cause that." She looked down at her hand, "I think I need to bleach my hand."

"You should cut it off." Ron suggested, patting her shoulder, "We can find a Potion or spell to get you a new one."

Ginny, who looked a little green, shook her head, "Forget it – Look, I think I found the book we were looking for."

Deciding to agree with her and forget about Malfoy (Nope. No! Just no! She wasn't going to think about it. Ew ew ew!), Harry turned her attention toward Ginny. She raised an eyebrow, silently asking the younger girl to explain what she was talking about.

The red head turned the tome so they could read the simple title.

Harry blinked.

" _Dark Fae_ ," She read out loud, " _The Children of the Moon_."

* * *

Apparently, Luna found the book while looking for a book about the Blibbering Humdinger or the Crumple-Horned Snorkack in the Restricted Section. Ginny, who had been accompanying her out of boredom, had immediately taken the book to Harry.

Fate wasn't making it easy for Harry though. The moment the green eyed witch touched the book, the bell rang and she and Ron had to walk to Transfiguration, where Professor McGonagall finally handed their examination timetables as well details of the procedure for OWLs. If it was History, there would be nothing stopping her from reading the book right there and then. But Professor McGonagall wasn't someone that you messed up with.

"As you can see," Professor McGonagall told the class as they copied down the dates and times of their exams from the blackboard. "Your OWLs are spread over two successive weeks. You will sit the theory papers in the mornings and the practice in the afternoons. Your practical Astronomy examination will, of course, take place at night."

Harry looked down at her wrist watch, tapping her foot impatiently. She really wanted to leave so she could open the book.

"Now, I must warn you that the most stringent anti-cheating charms have been applied to your examination papers." Harry snorted when Ron groaned beside her and Hermione shot him a glare, "Auto-Answer Quills are banned from the examination hall, as are Remembralls, Detachable Cribbing Cuffs and Self-Correcting Ink. Every year, I am afraid to say, seems to harbor at least one student who thinks that he or she can get around the Wizarding Examinations Authority's rules. I can only hope that it is nobody in Gryffindor." The stern looking witch sighed.

"How much do you want to bet that the twins tried something?" Ron muttered.

Harry snickered, "No bet there."

Hermione shooed them. The two glanced at each other and rolled their eyes fondly.

Professor McGonagall smiled slightly, "Do your very best. You have your futures to think about."

Harry played with her fountain pen. The OWLs and the NEWTs were the only exams that mattered to a witch or wizard future. These examinations were used to determine what type of career the students would be able to obtain once they graduated. For example, to be a Curse Breaker, one needed to have at least EE in their Potions and Transfiguration OWLs and O in Runes, Arithmancy, Charms and DADA NEWTs.

When asked by McGonagall in the middle of the term about what she wanted to do in the future, Harry said that she wanted to be an Auror. But now that Voldemort was dead and all Death Eaters had lost their magic, the career had lost its appeal to her.

Honestly… She had no idea of what she was going to do with her future.

"Please, Professor," said Hermione, her hand in the air, "When will we find out our results?"

"An owl will be sent to you sometime in July," Professor McGonagall replied.

"Excellent," said Dean Thomas in a loud whisper, "So we don't have to worry about it till the holidays."

McGonagall looked at the boy before she turned her attention her attention to another student, a nervous looking Gryffindor whose name Harry couldn't remember, who wanted to know who would testing them. Harry stopped paying after that. Soon though, the class was dismissed and she could talk to her friends about the book.

"I can't believe that Luna found it," Hermione whispered to Harry, Ron and Neville as they walked to the lake. Luna and Ginny had Potions at the moment so they would only be able to see the two younger girls later.

"Well, believe it." Harry said as she sat down.

"Why _Children of the Moon_?" Neville asked quietly as he sat next to her, "Aren't those werewolves?"

Harry shrugged, not knowing what to say.

She opened the book when Hermione and Ron finally sat down with them. The introduction of the book explained that there were several Dark Faes and that many saw them as pure evil. However, that depended of the creature itself. Dark Fae were known as earth or water elementals as well tricksters, chaotic spirits or creatures whose magic was most in tune with illusions, magic, sex, the shadows, the death, the night and or the moon ("Oh, that explains it." Neville muttered getting a nod from the others).

Harry turned the page s of the book quickly, scanning the pages for anything that seemed similar to what was happening to her.

"Stop," Hermione took her hand and pointing at a passage of the book, "Look here, _'… can kill someone by draining their victim of life force through a kiss, a touch or from engaging in sexual activity_ _. Some say that many wizards and witches found themselves being turned into Squibs after having their magic drained by…'_. Oh…" Hermione blinked.

Feeling dread fill her, Harry looked down and started reading the paragraph Hermione was pointing to.

Licking her lips, she read, " _'…having their magic drained by the Succubus.'_. Oh, indeed." Harry said dryly.

Hermione stared at her like a deer caught in headlights while Neville blushed, opening and closing his mouth in a poor imitation of a fish. Ron… Well, Ron was Ron.

"Well," Ron muttered, breaking the silence, "That explain Malfoy's boner."

Harry didn't know if she cried or laughed.

 **Hope you liked it and please, don't forget to:**

 **Review, Favorite or Follow and if you have questions/suggestions, just send me a PM.**

 **-Cissnei**


	3. Chapter 3

**Higher Ground**

 **Summary:** _"I am good, but not an angel. I do sin, but I am not the devil. I am just a small girl in a big world trying to find someone to love." – Marilyn Monroe. FemHarry._

 **Just a warning:** _FemHarry_ _, AU (Canon up to End of OoP), No Horcruxes, Blood, Violence, Language, Messed Up Timeline, Minor Suggestive Adult Themes (What's a Crossover with True Blood without that?)_

 **Chapter 3**

 _ **Dark Fae: The Children of the Moon by A.J. Montgomery**_

 _ **SUCCUBUS**_ **(** Also known as Life Faeries **)**

" _Despite what Muggles and several Wizards and Witches may believe, Succubi are not – in any shape of form – sex demons._

 _They are a type of Faerie (_ _ **F**_ _a_ _ **e**_ _r_ _ **ie**_ _, not_ _ **F**_ _a_ _ **i**_ _r_ _ **y**_ _) which are known to be physically strong, magically powerful and extremely long-lived beings. However, different of beings like Vampires, they are not immortal; they can be killed or commit suicide. A young Faerie age and develop at nearly the same rate as humans until puberty, after which they become physically matured and thus no longer age as humans would. How they actually age, and if it varies from Faerie to Faerie, is unclear. Rumors tell that some Faerie have been known to die of old age, but if and how their Fae abilities affect their aging is unknown. […] Studies say that a Faerie grows more powerful as they age. […]Aside from iron, which is said to able to harm and even kill a Faerie, not much is known about their weakness […]._

 _[…]_

 _The name Life Faeries first came because of the Succubi' ability to drain and transfer other beings life force; be it plant life or humans. With a great amount of control, a Succubus may bring someone from the verge of death or extend a being life-span. […] What started the rumors about Succubi being sex demons is that a young Succubus, who has no control over their powers, may and can kill someone by draining their victim of life force through a kiss, a touch or from engaging in sexual activity. Some say that many wizards and witches found themselves being turned into Squibs after having their magic drained by the Succubus._

 _Because Succubi have affinity to Love Magic, having the need to feel needed and or being in physical contact with someone, and their own nature as_ Life _Faeries, which gives them the need to feed on a being's life-force just as Vampires need blood to survive; in this case, they use their allure as well their touch to attract or control other beings, making it easier for them to feed (That, however, only works if the victim is sexually attracted to them. A Gay male, for example, won't even blink in the presence of a Succubus). […] Many Young Succubi are known to be sexually active, more so than others types of Faeries. However, although the majority of the Succubi does indulge in one-night stands (Like how several humans do along their lives), they avoid having constant sexual experiences; Succubi are monogamous and have no desire to accidentally bond themselves for the rest of their long life to someone who isn't their True Mate(s). […]_

 _[…]_

 _Different from those who are merely descendants of Succubi who, upon their Inheritance, only receive great beauty and allure on par of Veela as well other simple abilities, Wizarding children with a Balanced Inheritance are seen as Hybrids; Half-Subbucus and Half-Humans. The power level of their abilities and what abilities they get is determined by the strength of their magical core. Every single Hybrid has a Grey Magical Core […]_

Harry yawned as she walked away from the library, waving to Madam Price as the sour looking woman examined the book the green eyed witch had just returned.

The book about Dark Fae had been helpful when it came to breaking any stereotype she had about Succubus but at the same time, it was useless because there was nothing there that explained how she control her magic and any ability that she got from her inheritance. There was one note on the end of the Succubus chapter that spoke about a woman, a Hybrid like Harry (Ugh. It was still strange to think that she was no longer human), who lived in America. Maybe, if Harry found a way to contact her, then she could ask the woman to help her.

Harry entered the Great Hall to find all Fifth Years in silence; a tense air surrounding them. It was Monday and no one felt prepared for their Charms exams. As Harry sat down to eat, she snickered to herself as she observed her fellow Gryffindors. Ron was reading two years' worth of Charms notes with his fingers in his ears, his lips moving soundlessly; Seamus Finnigan was lying his head to the table, monotonously reciting the definition of the Substantive Charm while Dean Thomas checked it against _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5_ ; Parvati Patil was practicing incantations under her breath while the salt cellar in front of her twitched; Lavender Brown was muttering to herself as she wrote something down on her Charms book; Hermione was rereading _Achievements in Charming_ so fast that her eyes appeared blurred and Neville kept dropping his knife and fork and knocking over the marmalade.

It was hilarious and helped distract her a little. Like all the others, Harry didn't think that she was ready for her OWLs.

After breakfast, the Fifth – and Seventh – years walked to the Entrance Hall while the other students went off to their respective lessons. Then, at half past nine, they were called forward class by class to re-enter the Great Hallto see that the four house tables had been removed and replaced with many tables for one; all of them facing the staff-table end of the Hall where Professor McGonagall stood, surveying them with narrowed eyes.

When they were all seated and quiet, she nodded to herself.

"You may begin," She said before turning to an enormous hour-glass on the desk beside her.

Biting her bottom lip nervously, Harry turned her paper over. Hermione, who she noticed was sitting three rows to her right and four seats ahead, was already answering the questions on her exam. Neville, who was sitting two rows to her left and one seat ahead, had yet to turn his paper over; he was trembling so much that Harry thought he was going to faint at any second. Harry did look for Ron, but he must have been a few seats behind her because she didn't see a sign of him.

Shaking her head, she lowered her eyes to her exam.

 **Ministry of Magic**

 **Wizarding Examinations Authority Reg. 417-XQ**

 **O.W.L. Examinations - Year 5**

 **EXAM:** THEORY OF CHARMS

 **Name:** _Henrika Rhiannon Potter_

 **House:** _Gryffindor_

 **QUESTIONS 1 - 55**

 **Use Magical Regulation 572**

 **Azul Marino Ink** _ **ONLY**_

 **1)** Give the incantation and describe the wand movement required to make objects fly

 **2)** Identify the spell which causes "bogies" (British slang for dried nasal mucus) to turn into bats and attack the victim. List significant moment in history where this spell was used.

 **3)** Give the correct name for the Shield Charm. Which spell can it not deflect and why?

 **4)** Identify the Charm which turns an object into a Portkey; a device which transports the toucher to a desired destination. Describe what are the effects and possible consequences of the use of a Portkey.

 **5)** MUFFLIATO - Describes this Charm's action and suggests options for its Etymology.

 **6)** What other effects does the RICTUSEMPRA Charm invoke apart from uncontrollable and unpreventable laugher? Give at least 2 examples.

 **7)** Describe the complex interaction between the COLLOPORTUS and ALOHOMORA spells.

 **8)** Which spell causes animals or beings of lesser intelligence to attack when summoned? Give an example.

 **9)** Which Charms does the LIBERACORPUS neutralizes? What other spell has the same effect?

 **10)** FINITE INCANTATEM - Does this End or Refine a spell? Describe.

 **11)** If MOBILIARBUS and MOBILICORPUS are variations of the same basic spell, identify the Latin word which links them. Give an example of the use of those Charms.

Harry blinked as she read the questions. Although they did start to get more and more complicate after the twelfth question, they weren't as bad as the older students had made they seem. Smiling a little, she started to scribble down her answer. She skipping a few questions, she wasn't sure how to answer at the moment, but did turn her attention back to them after she was finished with the rest of the exam.

"Well, it wasn't too bad, was it?" Hermione asked anxiously two hours later as they stood in the Entrance Hall.

Harry, who was resting her back against the wall with arms crossed tightly across her chest as she tried to take a nap before the practical exam, didn't say anything. She merely shrugged and tried to block the whispers around her. Her hand was killing of writing so much and her head seemed like it was going to burst. Ugh. She couldn't remember the last time she thought and wrote so much in her life. Neville was sitting by her feet, his eyes wide and looking like he was suffering from shock.

"I'm not sure I did myself justice on Cheering Charms, I just ran out of time. Did you put in the counter-charm for hiccoughs?" Hermione babbled, not caring that none of them replied, "I wasn't sure whether I ought to, it felt like too much – and on question twenty-three –"

"Hermione," Ron tiredly, "We've been through this before... we're not going through every exam afterwards; it's bad enough doing them once."

After lunch, the Fifth Years were sent to the small chamber beside the Great Hall, where they were meant to wait until they were called for their practical examination. As small groups of students were called forwards in alphabetical order, those left behind muttered incantations and practiced wand movements, occasionally poking each other in the back or eye by mistake.

Hermione's name was one of the first to be called. Trembling, the bushy haired witch left the chamber with Anthony Goldstein, Gregory Goyle and Daphne Greengrass. But since the students who had already been tested didn't return to the chambers; Harry, Ron and Neville had no idea how she done.

"Do you think she did well?" Neville whispered.

Ron scoffed, "She'll be fine, remember she got a hundred and twelve per cent on one of our Charms tests?"

"She's a powerful witch." Harry said with a small smile, "I'm sure that she impressed her examiner."

Ten minutes later, after Neville had been called along a few others, the green eyed witch heard Professor Flitwick call, "Parkinson, Pansy; Patil, Padma; Patil, Parvati; Potter, Harry."

"Break your arm," Ron said quietly, patting her shoulder.

Harry snorted, "It's _'break a leg'_ , Ron. But thanks."

Taking a deep breath, Harry walked into the Great Hall. She found Professor Flitwick standing just inside the door.

"Professor Tofty is free, Potter," The Half-Goblin squeaked, pointing to what looked like the oldest and baldest examiner in Hall. The wizard who was sitting behind a small table in a far corner, not too far from where Griselda Marchbanks was halfway through testing Draco Malfoy.

Harry smiled widely at Malfoy when he saw her. The boy sneered but kept his attention focused on Professor Marchbanks. Snorting, she approached her examiner.

"Potter, is it?" said Professor Tofty, consulting his notes and peering over his glasses at Harry as she approached his table. " _The_ famous Potter?!"

His voice was a little too loudly and by the corner of her eyes, Harry saw Malfoy throw a scathing look over at her; the wine-glass he had been levitating fell to the floor and smashed. Malfoy muttered something to Professor Marchbanks but the woman didn't see too happy with him as she wrote something down on her little notepad. The green eyed witch grinned widely, finding the boy misfortune hilarious. Seeing the look on her face, Professor Tofty smiled back encouragingly.

"That's it," He said with a nod, "There's no need to be nervous. Now, if I could ask you to take this egg cup and make it do some cartwheels for me…" Professor Tofty made a motion with his hand.

Harry nodded and her practical exam started.

She wasn't one to boast but she was sure that she had aced her exam. Charms was one of her favorites classes, especially because her mother had been an Charms Mistress, so Harry never thought that she would have problems with the practical exam.

After she was finished, she walked straight to the common room. Hermione and Neville were already there with Luna and Ginny. The two younger girls were helping the two. Harry was so exhausted that she politely refused their offer to join them and went to bed. Tomorrow they had Transfiguration and she knew that she would need to rest if she wanted to go well on McGonagall's written exam.

Not that going to sleep early helped all that much.

Was she reached the last ten questions on her written exam the next morning, she accidentally fell sleep, hitting her head against the table. Her magic, of course, sensed her distress and immediately latched onto those who were sitting close her, absorbing enough of their magic and life-force for her to stay a little hyper for the rest of the day. When Hermione heard about it, she immediately started muttering about trying to find out how many times a day or week Harry had to feed if she didn't want to get tired too easily. Her friends joined the girl, offering their own magic and life-force and much to her embarrassment, offered hugs just in case (The hugs were very welcome. She had never been much comfortable with physical contact but now she kept getting those urges which made her feel like the touch starved little girl who called the cupboard under the stairs her safe heaven – It was driving her crazy).

It made tears gather on her eyes and a beautiful smile form on her face as they said or did all that. It was nice knowing that her friends where still the same loveable mother hens from before they learned what Harry had become.

Wednesday was their Herbology exams; Harry thought that she had done really well in her written exam but she was a little worried about her practical exam since several plants seemed to have an aversion of her as if afraid of her and many died when she accidentally absorbed their life force upon trying to protect herself when they tried to attack her.

Thursday was Defence Against the Dark Arts. Here, Harry knew that she had done perfectly well much like how she did in her Charms exam. Performing all the counter-jinxes and defensive spells was fun and the workout was a blessing after how boring the week was going.

"Oh, bravo" Professor Tolty clapped after Harry demonstrated a perfect _Expelliarmous_ , "Very good indeed! Well, I think that's all, Potter... unless..." She lowered her wand and backed away a little when the overly excited wizard leaned forward a little. "I heard, from my dear friend Tiberius Ogden, that you can produce a Patronus? Maybe… For a bonus point...?"

Harry eyed the examiner for a moment.

Was that even allowed?

Shrugging, Harry raised her wand, " _Expecto Patronum!_ " Her beloved stag Patronus (Her father's Aimagus form) erupted from the end of her wand and cantered the length of the Hall. All of the examiners looked around to watch its progress; they gaped with awe making her blush a little. When it dissolved into silver mist, Professor Tofty clapped once more, this time a little more excited… If that was even possible.

"Excellent!" He beamed, "Very well, Potter, you may go!"

Harry grinned.

On Friday, Harry, Hermione and Neville sat on their Ancient Runes exams. And although Harry hadn't taken the elective, she had been self-studying since First Year and was allowed to take the exam. Granted she had to use her fame for that but that fact could be easily ignored. The written exam was very challenging (Harry was sure that she confused several Japanese Runes with Chinese ones; they were far too similar) and the practical exam was fun since she had to use Runes to complete several tasks given to her by the examiner.

Harry and Neville kept their distance from Hermione after the two of them finished the exam. The girl looked like she would snap at any second and the problem wasn't even something serious. Instead, Hermione was angry because…

"I mistranslated _ehwaz_!" Hermione yelled furiously when Ron asked how they done, "It means _'partnership'_ , not _'defense'_! I mixed it up with _eihwaz_."

Harry and Neville glanced at each other and stepped away from her, making their way to the couch so they won't end up turning into the receiving end of her wand. Ron, though, had no idea of what self-prevention meant.

"Ah well," Ron said lazily, "That's only one mistake, isn't it? You'll still get –"

Hermione snarled, her eyes wide, "Oh, shut up! It could be the one mistake that makes the difference between a pass and a fail. And –" She started ranting.

Harry stared. This had just been one week of exams. She was almost afraid to see how Hermione would be acting next week when they had Potions and History.

The Potions exams were on Monday and although Harry thought that she got a passable mark on the written exam, the same couldn't be said to the practical. The cauldron they had to use to prepare their third and last Potion of the day was made of iron. Suffice to say that Harry had a violent allergic reaction and ended blanking out; her hands burning from touching the cauldron.

It was difficult, but Harry was somehow able to convince Madam Pomfrey to allow her to take her Care of Magical Creatures exam on Tuesday at least so to not let Hagrid down. Since there was no writing exam for COMC, the practical exam took place that afternoon instead of morning. All Fifth Years moved to the lawn on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, where they were required to correctly identify the Knarl hidden among a dozen hedgehogs; then demonstrate the correct handling of a Bowtruckle; feed and clean out a Fire Crab without sustaining serious burns; and choose, from a wide selection of food, the diet they would give a sick unicorn. It was a very relaxing day even though Harry was forced back in the Hospital Wing after she finished.

The Astronomy, Divination and Arithmancy exams were on Wednesday.

Harry, Ron and Neville had Divination in the morning while Hermione had Arithmancy. Like with COMC, there was no written exam for Divination and Harry found herself trying to understand what the hell a crystal ball was showing her (Not that she saw anything); use a pendulum to point in the right direction of an object her examiner had hidden; do a tea-leaf reading and attempting to do a passable read on Professor Marchbanks' future by using tarot cards and palmistry. Aside from the crystal ball, Harry thought that she had actually done a good job on her exam. Divination was easy and enjoyable when someone else wasn't constantly saying you were going to die the next day.

"Well, I'm going to fail this one," Ron mumbled gloomily as their trio ascended the marble staircase. The boy had apparently told the examiner in detail about the ugly man with a wart on his nose in his crystal ball, only to look up and realize he had been describing his examiner's reflection.

Neville sighed, "My Gram won't be happy with me." He said sadly, "I was the one who wanted to take this class."

"At least you can give it up now." Harry tried to comfort the two boys.

Ron and Neville turned to stare at her with disbelief.

"You will continue doing Divination?!" Ron asked.

Harry shrugged, "Without Trelawney here, Divination is a rather cool subject." Even if she was terrified of Firenze. "And although I am no Prophet or Seer, I do have talent for it. Or so Professor Marchbanks told me."

Harry laughed when they asked if the tea-leaves they had used that day had poisoned her or made her high somehow. Just then, Hermione came running up behind them. Harry immediately stopped laughing and the boys' back straightened as she they looked at girl with caution. They were afraid that she would be acting like how she had done last week after Runes.

"Well, I think I've done all right in Arithmancy," The older girl smiled.

The trio sighed with relief.

After dinner, they reached the top of the Astronomy Tower at eleven o'clock and found a perfect night for stargazing; cloudless and still. The grounds were bathed in silvery moonlight and there was a slight chill in the air. Each student set up his or her telescope and, when Professor Marchbanks gave the word, started to fill in the blank star-chart they had been given. Being the Granddaughter of a Black and the Goddaughter of one, Harry had no problem in doing so, only having a few problems with Ophiuchus and Lynx.

Since no one in their group of friends had Muggle Studies, they had their last final exam, History of Magic, on Wednesday morning. Harry found it a little difficult to do the exam properly, especially since History was far from being her favorite subject (But with a teacher like Binns, that wasn't too surprising), but she was able to answer all sixty five questions.

Finished with the exam, the four Fifth year Gryffindors found Ginny and Luna waiting for them. Their group then had taken some food from the Great Hall and immediately walked to their spot close to the lake so they could talk properly without anyone overhearing them.

"We're free!" Ron kneeled on the ground, throwing his hands up in the air as he thanked all Gods for this miracle.

Harry, who had been lying on the ground next to Luna and watching the clouds move lazily in the sky, snorted at his dramatics.

"How did the exams go?" Ginny asked, throwing little pieces of bread to the Giant Squid. "We haven't seen you guys for a while since you have been so busy studying and too tired to chat."

Hermione started talking about the exams, telling Ginny and Luna what they should already start studying for their own OWLs next year. At some point in the conversation, Ginny informed them that Umbridge had left Hogwarts on Tuesday. It seemed the toad-like woman had crept out of the Hospital Wing a little before lunchtime, evidently hoping to depart undetected, but unfortunately for her, she met Peeves on the way, who seized his last chance to do as Fred had instructed, and chased her gleefully from the premises whacking her alternately with a walking stick and a sock full of chalk. Many students had ran out into the Entrance Hall to watch her running away down the path and the Heads of Houses tried half-heartedly to restrain them.

"I have pictures!" Ginny grinned widely when Harry mourned the fact that she missed it.

"Where's Umbridge now?" Hermione asked.

Ron cackled, "Who cares? I just hope to never see that Toad ever again."

"Look, a Fairy." Luna pointed to a specific cloud before looking at Harry who was seconds away from falling asleep.

Shaking her head, Harry narrowed her eyes as tried to see what she was talking about, "It looks more like a Doxy to me."

Hermione's head snapped in their direction, "Speaking of Fairies, have you been having problem with your magic lately Harry?"

It took the green eyed girl a moment or two to understand what one thing had to do with the other.

"You mean Faeries," Harry corrected.

The book had made it clear that there was a big difference between the two. Faeries looked more human and were not only powerful but also intelligent beings. Fairies, on other hand, were small human-like creatures with large insect-like wings; they possessed diminutive intelligence, were really vain (So vain they many of Fairies often allow themselves to be used as decoration by Wizardkind) and their magic was rather weak.

"But no," Harry continued before Hermione could say anything, "My magic hadn't acted up since our Transfiguration exams."

"That's good isn't?" Neville muttered. "Doesn't that mean that you're starting to get control over it?"

Harry sighed, "Not really. I hadn't feeling threatened or anything and you guys have been _'feeding'_ me." She grimaced. They had been insistent in sharing a bit of their magic or life-force every day. "Even if I said that I don't need it."

"You do need it." Luna said dreamily but her voice was firm, not leaving room for Harry to argue.

"Uh, what about that woman?" Ron asked making them to turn. The boy blushed, "I mean the woman that the book was talking about. Are you going to look for her."

Harry opened her mouth to answer when Luna perked up and interrupted her. The silvery-blonde girl sat up and grabbed her bag, taking a slip of paper from inside it. Harry sat close to her, accepting the paper with a blink.

"Good thing you mention that," She said happily, "I almost forgot. I asked Daddy if he knew anything about Succubus and he did! He even has a friend who is a Hybrid like Harry. Guess her name?" When no one answered, her smile grew, "Alanna Joan Montgomery."

Hermione gaped, "As in A.J Montgomery? The author of the book?"

Luna nodded with excitement.

Harry stared at the address in her hand with wide eyes. Her heart speed up and she wondered for a moment what she was going to do. There was a short warning from Mr. Lovegood under it, saying that Mrs. Montgomery would only see her if Harry visited her in America. But Harry felt a little hesitant with the mere thought of leaving the country, especially since she had no idea of how she would have to keep training until she had control.

Someone poked her arm.

Turning her head, Harry saw Ginny smiling at her. The others had similar expressions on their faces and Harry held back the urge of sigh. They already knew her well enough to know what she is thinking.

"You should visit Mrs. Montgomery for summer." The red haired girl said, "We will be waiting for you here."

"And if I have to stay there for more than summer?" Harry asked, pursuing her lips.

Hermione gave her a look, "We will send you letters."

"There's also the Floo and two way diaries and –" Ron started listing all types of magical communication that existed. "And letters!" He grinned.

"Hermione already said that." Ginny rolled her eyes fondly at her brother when he blew a raspberry.

Biting her lower lip, the raven haired witch looked down at the paper again. She closed her eyes. Harry really didn't want to leave.

"You should go," Luna sounded worried now, "Daddy said that its better if you learn control soon before something happens."

And if that didn't sound like foreshadowing then Harry would eat her glasses.

* * *

The day before they were meant to leave Hogwarts, Harry felt like something was going to go extremely wrong. After the day of her History exam, things had been far too peaceful and calm for her liking and Luna's warning kept repeating in her head like a broken record. So when Malfoy stepped in front of her as she walked in direction of the lake morning, she sighed.

She opened her mouth to greet the annoying the boy when she caught the sign of something by the corner of her eyes. Harry dodged the spell from the tall Slytherin that had stepped out of a pillar and gave a few steps to the side only to jump out of the way when two others Slytherin attacked her. Before she knew what happened though, something hit her and she was _burning_.

Iron.

They had hit her with _iron_.

Different from the reaction she had to it during her Potions' practical exam, things were a little extreme. Harry's eyes widened as she screamed with pain; her whole body was trembling and she could only compare the pain to the results of the _Cruciatus_. The pain was so intense that it got to the point that she no longer knew where she was. Her ears started ringing and suddenly, there was burst of power.

Harry wasn't sure of how much time passed when she was finally able to see once more, she was lying on the floor. She tried to move but her limbs felt heavy, as if there was an invisible weight over her body.

The worried face of Ginny and Luna appeared above her; they were saying something but Harry couldn't listen.

"– stop!"

"– their magic –"

"Harry, you're killing them!"

She gasped at those words. Harry finally noticed that her magic had latched on the Slytherins to protect her and started observe not only their magic but also their life itself; much like how it had done with Voldemort and Bellatrix. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and tried to pull it back.

Her magic was stubborn and refused to obey, as if it was a little child who was throwing tantrum. She had to do a forceful tug, gritting her teeth angrily and screaming in mind for it to stop. Harry wasn't amused when she felt it vibrate against her skin; pouting.

"Harry, are you listening?" Luna asked, hitting her cheek lightly with a frown.

Harry closed her eyes and didn't answer.

Ginny hissed, "We need to take her to Madam Pomfrey! She is burning!"

"She absorbed too much power in one go." Hermione said from somewhere, "We'll have to do something about the Slytherins."

"I hope you know any Memory Charm, Hermione." Ron muttered.

"What do we even tell Madam Pomfrey?" Neville asked, worried. "We can't take her there!"

"Do you have a better idea!?" Ginny snapped.

Her friends started arguing but Harry stopping listening to them as she blacked out.

"…Express leave in a few hours…"

"…worried about her…"

Harry could hear the voices whispering, but they made no sense to her. She didn't have a clue where she was, or how she ended there or even what she'd been doing before she got there. All she knew was that it felt like she was suffering from hungover after too much Firewhiskey (Ugh. She still couldn't believe that she let Fred and George convince her to drink that thing last year).

"Do you think she will wake up? She has been unconscious since yesterday!"

"I'm sure she will; she must be hungry."

"Do you only think about food, Ronald?!"

"Well – There is Quidditch."

A dry laugh escaped from her lips. There was a gasp and she opened her eyes to see her friends gathered around her. She was lying in her bed in the Gryffindor Dorm and was using the same clothes from – She didn't even know. Harry frowned, trying to remember what happened.

"Harry!" Ginny smiled weakly, she looked pale. "How're you feeling?"

She blinked. Memories from her encounter with the Slytherins came back without warning and she found herself sitting up.

"What happened?" _To me? To the Slytherins?_ But she couldn't complete the question out loud.

Her friends understood though. They always did.

Luna sniffed, making a small wounded noise. Her eyes were bloodshot and she was trembling.

"I thought you were dying." She let out a small sob, "I was going to the bathroom when I heard you scream. You were bleeding from the eyes and nose and mouth and –" Luna closed her eyes, "You were in so much pain."

Harry licked her lips, hugging the small blonde when she threw herself on her. Luna was like a little sister to her so it pained her to see the girl like that.

"W-What about the Slytherins?" The raven haired witch asked, "Are – Are they alright?"

Had – Had she killed them? Malfoy was a bastard and the others weren't too better but they were all children and none of them deserved to die. _She_ didn't want to be the cause of their death.

"They are fine. A little shaken but fine… You stopped before –" Hermione licked her lips. The bushy haired witch refused to look at her, "Before you killed them." She tried to smile. It looked fake but Harry was thankful for the effort, "I changed their memories. They don't even remember that iron can affect you – Malfoy must have seen your reaction to it in Potions. Anyway, they all think that they ended fighting with an unknown Seventh Year Gryffindor."

"I-It was a little scary…" Neville admitted, "Your eyes were glowing and we could see something, like a transparent wave of magic holding them down. Their skin started to get pale and –" He shook his head, "Harry… Have… Have you thought about contacting Mrs. Montgomery?"

Harry put her face to her knees, gripping her hair as she closed her eyes. Someone, Ron if she wasn't wrong, grabbed her shoulder. When he placed a little too much strength on his grip, Harry raised her head and looked into his eyes.

"Harry…" He looked a little sad, "Uncontrollable magic like that… It can..." The red haired boy made a pause, as if he was trying to think about the right words to say to her, "You almost not only killed Malfoy and the other but also killed yourself. It was too much magic for you to handle."

"We had to ask Bill for help," Ginny said softly, "He sent us Potions and spells books to try and pour the magic from you." She grimaced in disgust, "I had never thought I would see someone _puking_ magic before."

Harry ignored the last part of her statement. The green eyed witch didn't want to think about such thing.

"Did you tell –"

Ginny interrupted her, "Of course we didn't tell him anything. He was curious but Bill knows when to not ask questions."

"Oh – Ok…" Harry relaxed a little. She wasn't ready to let anyone else to know about what she had become thanks to her Inheritance.

"Harry?" She looked down at Luna, "Are you going to see Mrs. Montgomery? You never said if you would or not."

Running a hand through the younger girl hair, Harry smiled bitterly, "It isn't like I have a choice on the matter... Especially not now."

She needed the training she didn't want to let what happened to the Slytherins happen to her friends. Harry had already lost Sirius, she couldn't lose them too.

* * *

Hours after she woke up, Harry had breakfast in her room and left with her friends to the Hogwarts Express, trying to avoid any and all Slytherins. Unfortunately, Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle, attempted to ambush Harry halfway down the train as she made her way back from the toilet. Tired of them and everything at the moment, Harry had decided to stun the trio and be over with it before her magic decided to act up again but she never gotten the chance to pull her wand out nor did they get the chance to attack her. Several members of the DA, the defense club she had taught that year, saw what was happening through the glass of their compartment and rose as one to help her. By the time Ernie Macmillan, Hannah Abbott, Susan Bones, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Anthony Goldstein and Terry Boot, had finished using a wide variety of the hexes and jinxes Harry had taught them, Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle resembled three ugly gigantic slugs squeezed into Hogwarts uniform.

"I must say, I'm looking forward to seeing Malfoy's mother's face when he gets off the train," Ernie had said smugly as he watched Malfoy and his trolls run away from them.

"I reckon Goyle's mum will be really pleased," Ron, who had come to look for Harry when she took too long to come back to their compartment, grinned from ear to ear, "He's loads better-looking now... Anyway, Harry, come on, the food trolley's just stopped by... You need to eat something."

Rolling her eyes with a small fond smile, Harry thanked the others and accompanied Ron back to their compartment, where she forced by Ginny and Ron to buy large pile of cauldron cakes and pumpkin pasties. Hermione was reading a letter, Luna and Ginny were doing a quiz in The Quibbler and Neville was stroking his _Mimbulus Mimbletonia_ , which made odd crooning noises when touched.

Ron convinced Harry to play wizard chess with him while Hermione started to explain what the letter she was reading was about. Apparently, the bushy haired witch had contacted Mrs. Montgomery while Harry had been unconscious and the woman sent back a list of what Harry had to do so she could stay with the woman for the summer. Hermione had looking at the list and informed Harry that she needed to do was delivery the letter to the Goblins and they would do everything for her.

"It will be expensive though." Hermione said gloomily, folding the letter and giving it to Harry who placed it inside the pocket of her hoodie.

"I don't think that will be a problem, Hermione." Harry reassured her.

Actually, Harry doubted that it would be a problem. The Potters had been refused a place in the Scared Twenty Eight because their surname sounded too Muggle but they were still very rich after producing several talented Potions Masters, Warders and Curse Breakers. And if Harry wasn't wrong, Sirius had – He had made her his Heir before he died so she also had access to the Black money.

"Where does this woman live anyway?" Ron asked Hermione, but it was Ginny who answered.

She didn't even look up from the Quibbler as she spoke, "Somewhere in Louisiana, America."

"Shreveport." Luna said. She pointed at something, "This is wrong. You need to switch this rune with this one here."

Ginny corrected her mistake and turned the page of the magazine.

Hermione blinked, frowning a little as she rubbed her chin, "I'm pretty sure there is something in Shreveport…" She looked down, muttering to herself as she tried to remember why the place was important.

"When're you going to leave, Harry?" Ron asked after he won their game of chess without much problem.

She hummed, leaning back in her seat, "Today. I will stay with Tom until I can leave if the Goblins says that I can't go today."

Her friends nodded. They knew that now that she had no need for the so called Blood Wards around Privet Drive, there was no need for her to go back there.

The train pulled down in the approach to King's Cross and Harry took a deep breath. That was it. After she left the station, she would find Mrs. Montgomery and she would learn to control her magic as well accept her new status as a Succubus. She – She could do this.

Lifting down Hedwig's cage and dragging her trunk from the train as usual, she and her friends followed all the others students out of the train. Harry saw the old ticket inspector standing by the barrier; them go through the gate in twos and threes so they didn't attract attention by all bursting out of a solid wall at once and alarming the Muggles. She waited a little, watching as Neville, Luna and Ginny left first, before the inspector signaled to Harry, Ron and Hermione that it was safe to walk through the magical barrier.

She wasn't all too happy with what was awaiting for her on the other side.

"You have got to be kidding." Harry hissed, her magic mirroring her annoyance.

Standing next to the Weasleys and Hermione's parents was Mad-Eye Moody, looking quite as sinister with his bowler hat pulled low over his magical eye as he would have done without it. Tonks stood just behind him; her bright bubble-gum-pink hair gleaming in the sunlight filtering through the dirty glass of the station ceiling, next to her was Professor Lupin. Kingsley was standing a little far from them but Harry immediately saw him.

"What're they doing here?" Hermione frowned.

Harry didn't answer as she stepped behind her friends and opened her trunk.

"I don't know nor do I care." She said, taking out her Invisibility Cloak. "You didn't see me." Harry threw the Cloak around her, hiding from view.

"Roger Boss!" Ginny and Ron saluted. "We will miss you."

"Don't forget to send us a letter." Hermione whispered.

Neville smiled, "Try having fun."

"Take care." Luna waved.

At that moment, the adults noticed them. Mrs. Weasley hurried forwards and hugging her children tightly. "Ron! Ginny!" She hugged the others as Harry started walking away from them and in direction of the nearest exit. "Where's Harry?"

"I would like to know that too." Moody said loudly as he walked up to them.

"Uh?" Ron looked around with wide eyes, "Harry? But – She was right behind us?"

"She must have gone to the toilet," Luna said dreamily.

"Are you sure?" Hermione sounded confused, "I think I saw her pass by the barrier before any of us."

"Maybe she stayed behind to talk to someone." Neville suggested.

"And she didn't tell us?" Ginny clicked her tongue, "That isn't nice."

Harry started laughing as the Order members and Mrs. Weasley started to panic.

Merlin, she loved her friends.

 **Hope you liked it and please, don't forget to:**

 **Review, Favorite or Follow and if you have questions/suggestions, just send me a PM.**

 **-Cissnei**


	4. Chapter 4

**Higher Ground**

 **Summary:** _"I am good, but not an angel. I do sin, but I am not the devil. I am just a small girl in a big world trying to find someone to love." – Marilyn Monroe. FemHarry._

 **Just a warning:** _FemHarry_ _, AU (Canon up to End of OoP), No Horcruxes, Blood, Violence, Language, Messed Up Timeline, Minor Suggestive Adult Themes (What's a Crossover with True Blood without that?)_

 **Chapter 4**

Harry's eyes snapped open as Ern, the old driver of Knight Bus, slammed the brakes and the magical stopped abruptly in a deserted street not too far from desired destination.

She winced a little as her body was thrown forward, using her hands to stop herself from hitting the seats in front of her and ended breaking her nose.

Maybe she should have taken a taxi from the King Cross Station to the Leaky Cauldron. But then, no matter how traumatizing or painfully traveling with the Knight Bus could be, it was the fastest option she had – _Especially_ if she wanted to get to Gringotts before the Order decided to turn Diagon Alley upside down while looking for her.

She scoffed, grabbing her trunk and Hedwig's empty cage.

Harry didn't think that she would ever understand some of the members of the Order. What more did they want from her that they still thought she needed their misplaced – and _unwanted_ – attention? Voldemort was dead. The should have been disbanded the moment Dumbledore confirmed this.

"Thanks for the ride, Ern." Harry said as she walked past the old driver.

Turning around and taking off his goggles, he gave her one of his patented smiles and a thumbs up. Harry can't remember ever hearing Ern speak.

The raven haired witch jumped down the steps of the bus, turning around to thank Stan; the conductor of the Knight Bus.

"And remember: _you didn't see me_." She said to Stan, crossing her arms.

Harry knew very well how much the man liked to talk. He wasn't the best secret keeper around, only losing for Hagrid. At least Stan knew how to lie when needed, Hagrid couldn't even do that.

The man saluted her, "And if I did," He said excitedly, "We left you in the Muggle hairport."

" _Air_ port." Harry corrected. "But yeah."

She didn't think that the Order would try to interrogate Stan, or even Ern for the matter. It wasn't like any of them knew that she had been using the Knight Bus constantly for the last few years. But the green eyed girl didn't want to take any chances.

"Well," She turned around, "Bye Stan."

"See you around, Lavender!" He waved at her, using the fake name she had given to him the first time she used the Knight Bus back in the summer of her Third Year.

Harry snorted.

Turning down the street, she made sure that her hoodie was hiding a good portion of her face while keeping her head high and walking calmly indirection of the small shabby-looking pup that only magicals could see.

If there was something that her so called fame in the Wizarding World taught her was that if she wanted to go unnoticed, then she couldn't act like she was trying to hide. That would only make people look at her; focusing their attention in an attempt of figuring her out or merely making them suspicious of her.

Add the way she was dressed as well the fact that she had long ago corrected her eyesight (Only keeping her glasses because the potion she used for that wasn't exactly legal and she didn't want to get in trouble or be pointed out as the Next Dark Lady) and no one would even think twice about her.

They would more likely think she was just one more Muggleborn witch.

And that was exactly what she wanted.

Stepping inside the Leaky Cauldron, Harry took a moment to scan her surroundings. On the corner, there was a small old witch drinking a bottle of Firewhiskey as she spoke to younger looking wizard who looked like he wanted to be anywhere _but_ there. She also saw a bored looking wizard reading the newest edition of the Daily Prophet as well another wizard eating what looked to be a soup; it was difficult to say for certain.

There were others but she didn't really pay attention to them. Harry didn't recognize any of them so she decided to keep moving.

Tom the bartender looked up from the glass he was cleaning. He blinked and frowned thoughtful when he noticed her walking in direction of the entrance to Diagon Alley.

He stared at her with narrowed blue eyes, looking like someone who was trying to solve a puzzle.

Trying to not react, Harry nodded at him in greeting. Thankfully Tom stopped staring and he nodded back, turning his attention back to what he was doing.

For a moment, she had thought that he had recognized her. Harry really didn't want a repeat of what happened the first time she stepped into to the Leaky Cauldron.

Moving through the bar and out into the small, walled courtyard with nothing but a trash can and a few weeds, Harry took out her wand. Quickly, she started tapping her wand against the bricks above the trash can; three up and two across.

The green eyed witch have a step back as the last brick her wand touched quivered and wriggled, opening a small hole in the middle of the wall that grew wider and wider until an archway to the cobbled street of Diagon Alley opened before her eyes.

Walking down the twisted and long street, it didn't take long for Harry to reach the familiar snowy white building that towered over all the other little shops surround it. Two goblins wearing scarlet and golden uniforms stood in front if its burnished bronze doors; neither looked happy and while Harry was no specialist in Goblin behavior, she could tell that two were actually bored out of their minds. They would more likely anywhere but there.

She twitched when they stared at her instead of immediately stepping aside and pushing the doors open with mock bows like they always did.

Harry stared.

The guards stared back.

None of them relented and blinked, they merely stared. And as uncomfortable Harry was, with her heart beating painfully against her ribcage and eyes burning, she refused to lose.

Slowly, the Goblins gave her identical unnerving grins, their eyes glinting with dark satisfaction.

The witch swore, at that moment, that she could _hear_ her blood hushing to her head, leaving her breathless and with a headache.

She didn't know if she laughed hysterically or cried desperately.

 _They know_ , a desperate part of her whispered. _They know!_

Harry felt so _stupid_ and _naïve_.

 _Of course_ they knew!

She had been so worried about wizards recognizing her as their precious Girl-Who-Lived that she forgot to find a way to make sure magical creatures wouldn't be able to tell _what_ she was.

And now she was paying for that.

The raven haired girl only hoped that being Dark Faes (Mountain Faes to be more precise) that they would feel at least a little bit camaraderie towards her and not shot her new status to the world. Harry had heard stories of Goblins doing just that in the past after they came face to face to someone with an Balanced Inheritance.

After so many Rebellions and the way wizards treated them, they were more than happy to seize any and all opportunities available to them to make a wizard's life. The greedy little bastards could care less if said wizard could no longer be considered full human (Or from the Ministry's definition: _no longer human_ ).

"Step aside, I want to pass." The green eyed witch said.

Harry mentally patted herself in the back when they blinked in surprise, having not expect her to _demand_ anything from them.

 _Ha!_ It looked like she had won their little contest.

She was so happy that she had read the book about Dark Faes from cover to cover and then back again. If it hadn't been for it, Harry won't have known that Goblins just didn't care about such things as politeness. To them, it was just one of the signs of weakness.

The Goblins didn't answer for a long while. But then, suddenly, the Goblin on the right, who had a peculiar scar in his face, as if someone had tried to rip his left eye from its pocket, arched his eyebrow.

"And who wants to pass?"

Harry pursued her lips, not liking the question. Discretely, she looked over her shoulder to see if there was anyone around and close enough to hear them.

Thankfully, while she could see people hurrying from and to a few shops, no one was making indication of being interested in them.

"Henrika Potter." She gritted her teeth.

The Goblin didn't look impressed, " _Who_ wants to pass?"

She could feel her magic flare a little, reflecting her annoyance.

He had to be kidding her!

Didn't _everyone_ in the Wizarding World know who she was?

Before Harry did something that she would regret later or her magic reacted and somehow attacked the Goblins. She started to think about the book, trying to remember if she had read anything that would be helpfully at the moment.

It didn't take long for her erratic thoughts come to an halt as something clicked in her mind. Her hand twitched and she held back the urge of facepalming.

 _Duh_ , she thought dryly.

Dark Faes (Or any Fae for the matter) didn't care about humans. The moment one received their Balanced Inheritance, the Faes expected you to discard your human name and use a more Fae-Like name.

Good news though, her parents had the forethought of giving her the name of a goddess who was known to few as the _High Queen of Faes_ so she didn't need to come up with a name.

"Rhiannon," Harry said, licking her lips.

It felt strange to use this name, especially since only Sirius had truly used it. Almost everyone just called her _Harry_.

She made a pause, thinking about it for a moment before continuing, "Daughter of the Life Clan."

This time, Goblin looked pleased, another grin appearing on his face as he bared his shark-like teeth. The two Goblins bowed to her as they stepped aside and pushed the doors open.

"Welcome, sister." They chorused, "We hope the services of our bank will be to your liking."

Harry would have never believed it herself if it wasn't happening to her but the Goblins were actually sincere.

Uh – Maybe all this Dark Fae business had its perks after all.

It was still weird as hell to hear Goblins being sincere instead of plain sarcastic.

 _Twilight Zone, anyone?_ Harry thought dryly as she faced a second pair of doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon them. However, instead of being the warning about thieves, the words were different and written in a language that she could only dub as Gibberish.

Either there was something wrong with her eyes or the words changed when you weren't human.

Harry hoped it was the latter – The teen didn't think she had time to have her eyes checked.

Shaking her head, Harry started moving. Another pair of Goblins bowed to her as they opened the silver doors and her eyebrow twitched when they grinned much like the other two Goblins had done but she didn't say or anything and made her way into a vast marble hall.

About a hundred more goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins in brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses. There were too many doors to count leading off the hall, which more Goblins were showing people in and out of them.

Harry walked to one the counters.

The Goblin sitting behind it looked up from the rubies he had been examining and arched his eyebrow.

"Yes?"

"I want to see my account manager." Harry said.

Wordless, Goblin held his hand out to her with his palm up. Harry sighed with relief at not having to introduce herself once more and took out her Vault Key, handing it to him. The Goblin looked at it closely before giving it back to her.

Leaning back a little, he barked orders in a harsh and unknown language. One of the Goblins who had been showing people through the doors nodded and marched up to her.

"Follow me, sister." He said.

Harry opened her mouth to thank him but stopped, biting her tongue. She didn't know if it just a rumor, but the green eyed girl had heard before that you should never thank a Fae for anything, at least not if you didn't want to be in debt with them.

Truth or not, she pressed her lips together and nodded her head, following the Goblin toward one of the doors leading off the hall.

At first glance, it looked like all the others; a simple golden door. But as she got closer to it, Harry noticed that there was a _face_ of what looked to be an old man carved on the door; a face whose eyes opened and didn't stop looking at her direction even when the Goblin held the door open for her.

Hadn't she already been used to the ghosts and moving portraits of Hogwarts, that door would have freaked her out rather than making her scrunch up her face.

Harry blinked when she noticed that they hadn't stepped into the narrow stone passageway that lead to the carts and, instead, started walking down a long white corridor filled with golden doors, each one with a different face carved on it.

Her fingers twitched and Harry could almost hear her magic hissing and spitting as it vibrated against her skin, reacting to how uncomfortable she was by all those unseen jewelry eyes following her down the corridor.

As they made a turn to the left, Harry wished to stop for a moment, open her trunk and get her cloak. Maybe the eyes would stop following her if she was invisible.

She _really_ wanted to be invisible right now.

The Goblin stopped walking, looking up at the face carved on the door in front of him. It was a ancient looking face, one who belonged to someone as old if not older than Dumbledore.

"Quert of the Lower Mountain Clan, escorting Rhiannon of the Life Clan for an audience with Megizvark of the Golden Mountain Clan." The Goblin announced.

Harry blinked.

And she blinked once more.

What…?

Ok – First, how did he know the name she gave to the guards? And second, since when Goblins were called something other than names like Goldcoin or Ironmane?

She took a deep breath.

 _Now_ she was definitely freaking out.

Was it too late to turn around and get the hell out of his insanity filled place?

"Hum," The face hummed; its voice reflecting its apparent age, "You may enter."

With that, the door opened on its own to reveal a large circular room with only a large desk and a elderly Goblin wearing a refined and expensive looking golden uniform sitting behind it.

He looked up, half-moon glasses perched up at the bridge of his nose.

Harry looked from him to the other Goblin – Quert –, not knowing what to do with herself.

Quert didn't say anything. He merely – and not so gently – pushed her inside the room and the door closed behind her.

There was a moment of silence.

Harry gulped, looking around the white room.

"Sit down, child." The old Goblin – Megizvark – said, making a motion to a chair that definitely hadn't been there before he opened his mouth.

Harry sat down, feeling goose bumps rising up her arms and it had nothing to do with her still hissing magic. Megizvark stared at her for a moment before looking down at the tome he had been writing on with a Thunderbird feather Quill.

"I am Megizvark, Elder of the Golden Mountain Clan and member of the Goblin Council," He said, "However, to _you,_ Daughter of Hefeydd, I am the Potter Family Account Manager."

Harry processed his words, recalling that Hefeydd was her father's middle name before she finally understood what he was talking about.

"Pleasure to meet you." She nodded.

Megizvark hummed, "I'm sure it is."

There was another moment of silence which was only broken by the sounds hos Quill produced upon touching the tome.

Harry jumped a little on her seat when Megizvark closed the tome, pushing it aside and snapping his fingers. A tray of tea and crumpets and biscuits appeared over the table.

"Milk?" Megizvark askes, pouring out tea for both of them.

"Yes, tha – Yes."

His lips twitched at her almost slip.

"Lesson Number One about being a Fae," He handed a tea cup to her, "you don't need to worry about things that could be harmful to humans. You're one of us now and it's the _humans_ who should watch their tongue when speaking to you."

He buttered himself a crumpet and pushed the plate toward Harry.

"Understand?"

As she grabbed a biscuit, Harry thought of lying and saying that she did. But the witch didn't think that that would be a good idea.

"Not really," She relaxed, noticing that her magic followed her example. "It's confusing."

It wasn't like she knew what was harmful to humans when it came to Dark Faes or what shouldn't be said to Dark Faes or the like. The book was helpful but not all that helpful.

"You will," He said, looking at her over the rim of his teacup, "Montgomery and all those inside the Haven will make sure of that."

While Harry was sure that he was talking about A.J Montgomery, the author of the book about Dark Faes, she had no idea of what _Haven_ was. She opened her mouth to ask but decided against it and closed it again.

She was sure that she would know sooner rather than later.

"Now, give me the letter, please." He made a grabbing gesture with his hand.

Harry stared for a whole second before she finally recalled the letter Hermione had given to her. Taking the letter from the pocket of her hoodie, she handed it to Megizvark.

Tapping her fingers against her trunk, Harry waited for him to read the letter. She had no idea of what was written there and was actually rather curious to know.

"I'll make the right preparations," He nodded. Unfortunately, Megizvark didn't say anything about the contents of the letter, placing it aside and opening one if the drawers of his desk, "When do you want to leave?"

Harry perked up a little.

"When can I leave?"

The sooner she left for America the better.

Megizvark took a Galleon and a small black leather book from the drawer, closing it, "Montgomery would prefer if you left tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow then." Harry said.

He nodded, handing the leather book to her and holding the Galleon for a moment, muttering in the foreign tongue of the Goblins. The Galleon glowed and he handed it to her.

"The Portkey will active at ten in the morning of tomorrow."

Harry opened her trunk to put the Galleon away, grimacing a little.

Ugh.

She _hated_ Portkeys.

Harry closed her trunk, thinking for a moment, "Do I need to do anything?"

"Do I have permission to make any preparation necessary for you to have an pleasant stay in America?" Megizvark asked, looking through another drawer.

That didn't answer her question.

"…Yeah." Harry nodded.

"Then no," He closed the drawer and held her wrist, "I'll take care of everything. If I need anything, I'll inform you."

Before she could ask why he had taken her hand like that, Megizvark conjured an dagger, making a cut in her palm. Ignoring her attempt of pulling her hand back, as well how her magic reacted and started feeding from his magic, the Goblin placed a sheet of parchment over the table and pressed her hand against it before letting go of her hand.

Harry brought her hand to her chest looking down at it. The cut had already healed.

The green eyed girl took a deep breath, forcing her magic to stop feeding from the Goblin's life force before it was too.

"What was that for?!" She frowned.

The parchment glowed, rolling up and disappearing in a flash of light only to be replaced by a small golden card. It looked like your everyday platinum card.

"You will need this." He gave her the card, "It works both in the Magical and the Muggle Worlds. Like this you won't need to find one of our American branches."

She gritted her teeth. That was cool and all but – "You could have warned me!"

"For what?" He arched his eyebrow.

Harry pursued her lips with a dark look on her face.

 _Seriously?!_

When she didn't answer, he continued speaking, "All fees for my services will be taken from the Main Potter Vaults." He said nonchalantly, buttering himself a second crumpet, "Will you need anything else, child?"

Harry thought about it.

"No."

And even if she did, Harry would have been happier to ignore it and just tell the Goblin _no_ anyway. The teen didn't want to stay in that room for much longer. Especially since the Goblin had yet to banish to blade he had used to cut her (At least he had the decency of banishing any remains of her blood).

Being in the same room as a stab happy Goblin definitely wasn't in her _Things to do Before Dying_ list. Nor would it be if she had such list.

"I suggest you stay in the Leaky Cauldron for the night." Megizvark said as she grabbed her trunk and Hedwig's empty cage. "And have a safe trip."

"I will," Harry nodded, turning around, "Thank you for everything."

"You're welcome." She heard him say as the door opened on its own to her, revealing a bored looking Quert, "And tell Baba Yaga I said _thank you for the wizarding bones soup_."

Harry froze, almost letting go of her trunk and the cage as her hands went a little lax.

"Tell _who what_?!" She turned around only for the door to close on her face.

What? _What?!_

She gaped.

Baba Yaga was real and apparently Goblins liked – Nope. Not thinking about that. No sire. Nuh uh.

 _What did I do to deserve this?_ Harry despaired, following Quert out of the bank.

Whose puppy did she kill in her last life?!

Harry must have been in shock at the those revelations because by the time she snapped out of her frantic thoughts, she was following Tom the bartender up a handsome wooden staircase to a door with a brass number seven on it.

"Here it is." Tom unlocked and opened it for her. "How long will you be staying?"

She blinked, "Ah, yes, tomorrow."

Tom nodded, taking out a small notepad from the pocket of his robe and writing something down.

"Will you be paying now or later, Miss White?" He asked, using the false name she gave to him.

Harry shoved her hands into the pocket of her jeans and took out the necessary Galleons to pay for the room.

"Now. I doubt you will even see me leaving." She smiled, giving the coins to him.

Tom chuckled, "It happens sometimes. Well I'll be going – I'll come to warn you when dinner is served."

"Thank you, Tom."

With a smile, he gave her a bow and left.

Harry sighed, stepping into the room and using her foot to close the door behind her. Harry sat on her bed, leaving her trunk and Hedwig's cage on the floor. For a moment, she wondered how her beloved owl was doing; Harry couldn't take her with her to America since she was so easily recognizable as _Harry Potter's_ so the green eyed witch had asked her owl to either stay with Hagrid for the Summer or with one of her friends. The snow owl hadn't been too happy with that but she did as asked in the end.

Turning her head to the side, the teen absentmindedly watched as the sky outside the window changed rapidly from one color to another.

It was only now that the fact that she would be going to America to learn how to control her magic truly her. It almost felt surreal.

She hoped that this was the right decision and that she wasn't making a mistake.

* * *

Harry woke up early in the morning, just a little past seven. Sitting in her bed, she took her time to start her morning routine

After that, she left her room to get some food, sitting down with a plate of pancakes and a cup of tea as she watched and listened to the other guests: funny little witches from the country, up for a day's shopping; ancient-looking wizards arguing over the latest article in Transfiguration Today; loud dwarfs who eyed her with narrowed eyes once in a while and even what looked suspiciously like a hag, who ordered a plate of raw liver from behind a thick woollen balaclava before waving at Harry with a quick _Morrow, sister!_.

Apparently, hags were also Fae.

Uh – Who would have thought.

After breakfast Harry left to the backyard, taking out her wand, tapping the bricks above the trash and opening the archway to Diagon Alley.

She wanted to get some shop done before leaving. Hearing the gossip about her was also a bonus. Like this she could learn if the Order knew where she was.

Quickly, Harry brought a whole new wardrobe for herself in a small shop at the end of Diagon Alley, which was owned by a Muggleborn witch (She didn't have all that much that belonged to her and her alone. Most of the clothes she had one day been owned by Dudley). And made a stop at the book shop before going back to Leaky Cauldron.

By the time she finished packing her new clothes and books it was almost ten in the morning. Holding her trunk as well the coin, Harry started a breathing exercise, preparing herself for the inevitable.

 _In, out, in, out, I_ – The Portkey activated.

She didn't know if she had already made this clear before, but if she didn't then – Harry hated Portkeys.

Harry really _really_ hated Portkeys.

"I hate Portkeys." She spoke her thoughts out loud, wincing as her body was thrown against a hard surface and her word kept spinning.

The green eyed girl tried to stand up only to lay down once more. She hated Portkeys and it hated her just as much because there wasn't one single time that she didn't use it without ending with a less than graceful landing and a killing headache.

She should have taken a plane from London to Louisiana.

That would have been less painfully.

"Are you alive there?" Someone asked after a moment o silence. It was a girl.

"Nope." Harry replied, dryly, "I'm dead. Can't you see my spirit hovering over my dead body?"

There was a cackle before long fingers warped around her arm and helped her stand up. Dusting her clothes, Harry raised her head to see a pale man with long shoulder length blonde hair, blue-green eyes and a slightly crocked nose. He made her think of a twins with the way he was smiling; full of trouble and mischief.

"Welcome to Louisiana, little Miss Potter!" He made a grand gesture with his hands, almost hitting the girl standing next to him.

She ducked his hand, clicking her tongue with annoyance and Harry took the time to look at her. She had short pale blonde hair with a pink stripe and looked like one of those punk-rock girls Aunt Petunia sneered at every time she saw them in London. The girl was only a little older than her, maybe seventeen or eighteen years old.

"What he said." The girl pointed her thumb at the eccentric man, popping her gum. "I'm Sage."

Harry shook her hand when the girl offered it to her, "Harry."

Sage nodded and made a motion with her head. "That's my Gramps, Pierce."

The man waved his hand excitedly.

Harry eyed him. He didn't look like he was old enough to be the Grandfather of a teenager. If the raven haired girl had to guess, she would say that he was the say age if not a little older than Sirius.

But then again, Faes didn't exactly age at the same rate as Wizards. And Wizards aged much slower than non-magicals.

"Nice to meet you two." Harry smiled a little nervously, not knowing how to act around the two. "So, er - Where're we?"

Looking around, Harry noticed that they were standing in some kind of park and that, despite the few Muggles walking around, none of them seemed to notice the trio.

 _Some kind of Notice-Me-Not spell?_ Harry wondered.

"The Portkey Point at Ford Park," Sage replied, popping her gum once more, "It is, like, one of the few places in Louisiana where the use of Portkey is allowed."

Pierce, who was now holding Harry's trunk (And when did he get it?) nodded, "There was a incident a few years ago and the President decided that it would be better if there were specific places to use certain methods of magical transportation."

Harry nodded, opening her mouth to make a question when she recalled that the United States had a Magical President instead of a Minister of Magic like a few other countries.

"And no one can see us…?" Harry voiced her other question.

"This place is warded." Sage explained as Pierce lead them through the park. "Any kind of magic used her is ignored."

"Oh." She nodded a little.

Neither seemed to notice her discomfort, or they were just ignoring it. As they walked out of the Park and in direction of Pierce's car, the two asked her about Hogwarts and spoke about Shreveport.

They never touched the subject of her Magical Inheritance or why she was in their country in the first place. Harry wasn't sure if she was relieved or astonished with how nonchalantly they seemed to act, as if she was a cousin they hadn't seen in a long time instead of the so called Savior of the British Wizarding World who had gone through an early inheritance and turned into a Dark Fae because of all stress she had gone through the last few months (If not the last few _years_ ).

"Where're we going?" Harry asked after Pierce excitedly pointed to one of the landmarks of Shreveport.

Sage popped her gum. She did that a lot.

"To the Haven." The blonde said, intertwining her fingers behind her back and leaning against the backseat of the car as if she owned it, "It's the sanctuary for Dark Faes. It serves as a bar and a inn as well our meeting point."

Pierce looked at them when he stopped the car at a red light.

"I'm sure you will love it!"

"Sure." Sage replied for her, "Just never be alone with Great-Grandfather Rumplestiltskin and you'll be just fine." She made a pause, "Actually, stay away from the Satyrs too."

"Annoying molesters." Pierce grumbled.

Sage rolled eyes and gave Harry a look, "They aren't molesters." She assured Harry. "They're just a little more sexually active than most Dark Faes."

"No – They aren't molesters. They just don't know when to leave the Nymphs alone and can't keep those disgusting hands to themselves."

"Gramps, don't start. Just because I dated _one_ Satyr –"

They started arguing.

Harry rested her forehead against the window of the car with an odd expression on her face.

Baba Yaga, Rumplestiltskin, Satyrs, Nymphs… Her life had just reached a whole new level of weirdness, hadn't it?

She groaned.

 _Yay_ , Harry thought dryly, mourning the normal life she never had and would never have.

 **Hope you liked it and please, don't forget to:**

 **Review, Favorite or Follow and if you have questions/suggestions, just send me a PM.**

 **-Cissnei.**


End file.
